By  SAMUEL   SMILES. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

The  Huguenots  :  their  Settlements,  Churches,  and  Industries 
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THE  HUGUENOTS  AFTER  THE  REVOCATION. 

The  Huguenots  in  France  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  :  with  a  Visit  to  the  country  of  the  Vaudois.  By 
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LIFE  OF  THE  STEPHENSONS. 

The  Life  of  George  Stephenson,  and  of  his  Son  Robert  Ste- 
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SELF-HELP. 

Self-Help ;  with  Illustrations  of  Character  and  Conduct.     By 
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CHARACTER. 

Character.     By  Samuel  Smiles.     i2mo.  Cloth,  $1  50. 


ROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Round  the  World ;  including  a  Residence  in  Victoria,  and  a 
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Samuel  Smiles.     With  Illustrations.     i2mo.  Cloth,  $1  50. 


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THE 

HUGUENOTS  IN  FRANCE 

AFTER  THE  REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES : 
WITH  A  VISIT  TO  THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 


BY 

SAMUEL  SMILES, 

Auxnon  OF  "the  nuGUENOTS :  tueie  settlements,  cnuEcuES,  and  ixdustbies 

en  england  and  ireland,"  "  self-help,"  "chakactee," 

"life  of  tue  stephensons,"  etc. 


"Plus  a  me  f rapper  on  s'amuse, 
Tant  plus  de  marteaux  ou  y  use." 

Tu^odoee  de  Beze. 

"They  maintained  their  faith  in  the  noble  way  of  persecution,  and  served 
God  in  the  fire,  whereas  we  honour  him  in  the  sunshine," 

SiE  TuoiiAS  Beowne. 


NEW    YORK: 
HAEPEE    &    BROTHEES,   PUBLISHEES, 

FEANKLIN     SQUAB  E. 

18  7  4. 


\\   .^ ^'^''  -^' ,o;  ^ .  -^  f^  r  n  -f/  r.  ,; 


PREFACE. 


OIX  years  since,  I  published  a  book  entitled  The 
^  Huguenots :  their  Settlements,  Churches,  and  In- 
dustries, in  England  and  Ireland.  Its  object  was 
to  give  an  account  of  tbe  causes  wbicb  led  to  tbe 
large  migrations  of  foreign  Protestants  from  Flanders 
and  France  into  England,  and  to  describe  their  effects 
upon  English  industry  as  well  as  English  history. 

It  was  necessary  to  give  a  brief  resume  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  Reformation  in  France  down  to  the  dis- 
persion of  the  Huguenots,  and  the  suppression  of  the 
Protestant  religion  by  Louis  XIY.  under  the  terms  of 
the  Peyocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

Under  that  Act,  the  profession  of  Protestantism  was 
proclaimed  to  be  illegal,  and  subject  to  the  severest 
penalties.  Hence,  many  of  the  French  Protestants 
who  refused  to  be  *'  converted,"  and  had  the  means 
of  emigrating,  were  under  the  necessity  of  leaving 
France  and  endeavouring  to  find  personal  freedom  and 
religious  liberty  elsewhere. 

The  refugees  found  protection  in  various  countries. 
The  principal  portion  of  the  emigrants  from  Languedoc 


vi  PREFACE. 

aud  tlie  south.- eastern  proYinces  of  France  crossed  tlie 
frontier  into  Switzerland,  and  settled  there,  or  after- 
wards proceeded  into  the  states  of  Prussia,  Holland, 
and  Denmark,  as  well  as  into  England  and  Ireland. 
The  chief  number  of  emigrants  from  the  northern 
and  western  seaboard  provinces  of  France,  emigrated 
directly  into  England,  Ireland,  America,  and  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  In  my  previous  work,  I  en- 
deavoured to  give  as  accurate  a  description  as  was 
possible  of  the  emigrants  who  settled  in  England 
and  Ireland,  to  which  the  American  editor  of  the 
work  (the  Hon.  G.  P.  Disosway)  has  added  an  ac- 
count of  those  who  settled  in  the  United  States  of 
America. 

But  besides  the  Huguenots  who  contrived  to  escape 
from  France  during  the  dragonnades  which  preceded 
and  the  persecutions  which  followed  the  Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  there  was  still  a  very  large 
number  of  Huguenots  remaining  in  France  who  had 
not  the  means  wherewith  to  fly  from  their  country. 
These  were  the  poorer  people,  the  peasants,  the  small 
farmers,  the  small  manufacturers,  many  of  whom  were 
spoiled  of  their  goods  for  the  very  purpose  of  preventing 
them  from  emigrating.  They  were  consequently  under 
the  necessity  of  remaining  in  their  native  country, 
whether  they  changed  their  religion  by  force  or  not. 
It  is  to  give  an  account  of  these  people,  as  a  supple- 
ment to  my  former  book,  that  the  present  work  is 
written. 

It  is  impossible  to  fix  precisely  the  number  of  the 


PREFACE.  vii 

Huguenots  who  left  France  to  avoid  the  cruelties  of 
Louis  Xiy.,  as  well  as  of  those  who  perforce  remained 
to  endure  them.  It  shakes  one's  faith  in  history  to 
observe  the  contradictory  statements  published  with 
regard  to  French  political  or  religious  facts,  even  of 
recent  date.  A  general  impression  has  long  prevailecl 
that  there  was  a  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  in  Paris 
in  the  year  1572  ;  but  even  that  has  recently  been  denied, 
or  softened  down  into  a  mere  political  squabble.  It  is 
not,  however,  possible  to  deny  the  fact  that  there  was 
a  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  IN'antes  in  1685,  though 
it  has  been  vindicated  as  a  noble  act  of  legislation, 
worthy  even  of  the  reputation  and  character  of  Louis 
the  Great. 

ISTo  two  writers  agree  as  to  the  number  of  French 
citizens  who  were  driven  from  their  country  by  the 
Eevocation.  A  learned  Roman  Catholic,  Mr.  Charles 
Butler,  states  that  only  50,000  persons  "  retired"  from 
France ;  whereas  M.  Capefigue,  equally  opposed  to  the 
Reformation,  who  consulted  the  population  tables  of 
the  period  (although  the  intendants  made  their  returns 
as  small  as  possible  in  order  to  avoid  the  reproach  of 
negligence),  calculates  the  emigration  at  230,000  souls, 
namely,  1,580  ministers,  2,300  elders,  15,000  gentle- 
men, the  remainder  consisting  almost  entirely  of 
traders  and  artisans. 

These  returns,  quoted  by  M.  Capefigue,  were  made 
only  a  few  years  after  the  Revocation,  although  the 
emigration  continued  without  intermission  for  many 
years  later.     M.  Charles  Coquerel  says  that  whatever 


vili  PREFACE. 

liorror  may  be  felt  for  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartliolomew 
of  1572,  tlie  persecutions  wHcli  preceded  and  followed 
tlie  Act  of  Revocation  in  1685,  *'kept  France  under 
a  perpetual  St.  Bartliolomew  for  about  sixty  years." 
Durino"  tbat  time  it  is  believed  tbat  more  tban 
1,000,000  Frencbmen  either  left  the  kingdom,  or 
were  killed,  imprisoned,  or  sent  to  the  galleys  in  their 
eJBPorts  to  escape. 

The  Intendant  of  Sainton ge,  a  King's  officer,  not 
likely  to  exaggerate  the  number  of  emigrants,  reported 
in  1698,  long  before  the  emigration  had  ceased,  that  his 
province  had  lost  100,000  Eeformers.  Languedoc 
suffered  far  more ;  whilst  Boulainvilliers  reports  that 
besides  the  emigrants  who  succeeded  in  making  their 
escape,  the  province  lost  not  fewer  than  100,000 
persons  by  premature  death,  the  sword,  strangulation, 
and  the  wheel. 

The  number  of  French  emigrants  who  resorted  to 
England  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  at  the 
beginning  of  last  century  there  were  not  fewer  than 
thirty-five  French  Protestant  churches  in  London 
alone,  at  a  time  when  the  population  of  the  metropolis 
was  not  one-fourth  of  what  it  is  now ;  while  there 
were  other  large  French  .settlements  at  Canterburj^, 
Norwich,  Southampton,  Bristol,  Exeter,  &c.,  as  well 
as  at  Dublin,  Lisburn,  Portarlington,  and  other  toTVTis 
in  Ireland. 

Then,  with  respect  to  the  much  larger  number  of 
Protestants  who  remained  in  France  after  the  Revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  JSTantes,  there  is  the  same  difference 


PREFACE.  ix 

of  opinion.  A  deputation  of  Huguenot  pastors  and 
elders,  wlio  waited  upon  tlie  Due  de  Noailles  in  1682, 
informed  him  that  there  were  then  1,800,000  Protestant 
families  in  France.  Thirty  years  after  that  date, 
Louis  XIY.  proclaimed  that  there  were  no  Protestants 
whatever  in  France ;  that  Protestantism  had  been 
entirely  suppressed,  and  that  any  one  found  professing 
that  faith  must  be  considered  as  a  "  relapsed  heretic," 
and  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  the  galleys,  or  the 
other  punishments  to  which  Protestants  were  then 
subject. 

After  an  interval  of  about  seventy-five  years,  during 
which  Protestantism  (though  suppressed  by  the  law) 
contrived  to  lead  a  sort  of  underground  life — the 
Protestants  meeting  by  night,  and  sometimes  by  day, 
in  caves,  valleys,  moors,  woods,  old  quarries,  hollow 
beds  of  rivers,  or,  as  they  themselves  called  it,  ''in 
the  Desert  " — they  at  length  contrived  to  lift  their 
heads  into  the  light  of  day,  and  then  Pabaut  St. 
Etienne  stood  up  in  the  Constituent  Assembly  at  Paris, 
in  1787,  and  claimed  the  rights  of  his  Protestant  fellow- 
countrymen — the  rights  of  "  2,000,000  useful  citizens." 
Louis  XVI.  granted  them  an  Edict  of  Tolerance,  about 
a  hundred  years  after  Louis  XIY.  had  revoked  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  ;  but  the  measure  proved  too  late  for 
the  King,  and  too  late  for  France,  which  had  already 
been  sacrificed  to  the  intolerance  of  Louis  XIY.  and 
his  Jesuit  advisers. 

After    all    the    sufferings    of    France —  after    the 
cruelties  to  which  her  people  have  been  subjected  by 


X  PREFACE. 

the  tyranny  of  her  monarchs  and  the  intolerance  of 
her  priests, — it  is  doubtful  whether  she  has  yet  learnt 
wisdom  from  her  experience  and  trials.  France  was 
brought  to  ruin  a  century  ago  by  the  Jesuits  who  held 
the  entire  education  of  the  country  in  their  hands. 
They  have  again  recovered  their  ground,  and  the  Con- 
greganistes  are  now  what  the  Jesuits  were  before.  The 
Sans-Cullotes  of  1793  were  the  pupils  of  the  priests ;  so 
were  the  Communists  of  1871.*  M.  Edgar  Quinet  has 
recently  said  to  his  countrymen :  *'  The  Jesuitical  and 
clerical  spirit  which  has  sneaked  in  among  you  and  all 
your  affairs  has  ruined  you.  It  has  corrupted  the 
spring  of  life  ;  it  has  delivered  j^ou  over  to  the 
enemy  ...  Is  this  to  last  for  ever  ?  For  heaven's 
sake  spare  us  at  least  the  sight  of  a  Jesuits'  He- 
public  as  the  coronation  of  our  century." 

In  the  midst  of  these  prophecies  of  ruin,  we 
have  M.  Yeuillot  frankly  avowing  his  Ultramontane 
policy  in  the  Unircrs.  He  is  quite  willing  to  go  back 
to  the  old  burnings,  hangings,  and  quarterings,  to 
prevent  any  freedom  of  opinion  about  religious  matters. 
"For  my  part,"  he  says,  "  I  frankly  avow  my  regret 
not  only  that  John  Huss  was  not  burnt  sooner,  but 
that  Luther  was  not  burnt  too.  And  I  regret  further 
that  there  has  not  been  some  prince  sufficiently 
pious  and  politic  to  have  made  a  crusade  against  the 
Protestants." 

M.  Yeuillot  is  perhaps  entitled  to  some  respect 
for  boldly  speaking  out  what  he  means  and  thinks 
*  M.  Simiot's  speech  before  the  National  Assembly,  .16th  March,  1873 


PREFACE,  xi 

Tliere  are  many  amongst  ourselves  wlio  mean  the 
same  tiling,  without  having  the  courage  to  say  so 
— who  hate  the  Heformation  quite  as  much  as  M. 
Veuillot  does,  and  would  like  to  see  the  principles 
of  free  examination  and  individual  liberty  torn  up 
root  and  branch. 

With  respect  to  the  proposed  crusade  against 
Protestantism,  it  will  be  seen  from  the  following  work 
what  the  '*  pious  and  politic"  Louis  XIY.  attempted,  and 
how  very  inefficient  his  measures  eventually  proved  in 
putting  down  Protestantism,  or  in  extending  Catholi- 
cism. Louis  XIY.  found  it  easier  to  make  martyrs 
than  apostates  ;  and  discovered  that  hanging,  banish- 
ment, the  galleys,  and  the  sword  were  not  amongst 
the  most  successful  of  '*  converters." 

The  history  of  the  Huguenots  during  the  time  of 
their  submergence  as  an  "underground  church."  is 
scarcely  treated  in  the  general  histories  of  Prance. 
Courtly  writers  blot  them  out  of  history  as  Louis  XIY. 
desired  to  blot  them  out  of  France.  Most  histories  of 
France  published  in  England  contain  little  notice  of 
them.  Those  who  desire  to  pursue  the  subject  further, 
will  obtain  abundant  information,  more  particularly 
from  the  following  works  : — 

Elie  Bkxoit  :  Hisioire  de  VEdit  de  Nantes. 

Charles  Coqueeel  :  Histoire  des  Eglises  du  Desert. 

Napoleon  Peyrat  :  Histoire  des  Fasteurs  de  Desert. 

Antoine  Court  :  Histoire  des  Troubles  de  Cevennes. 

Edmund  Hughes  :  Histoire  de  la  Restauration  du  Frotestantisme  en 

France  au  xviii*.  Siecle. 
A.  Bonnemere  :  Histoire  des  Camisardes. 
Adolphe  Michel  :  Louvois  et  Les  Frotestantes. 
Athanase  Coquerel  Fils  :  Les  Formats  pour  La  Foi,  ^c,  ^-c. 


xii  PREFACE. 

It  remains  to  be  added  tliat  part  of  this  work — yiz., 
the  ''  Wars  of  the  Camisards/'  and  the  ''  Journey  in 
the  Country  of  the  Yaudois  " — originally  appeared  in 
Good  Words. 

S.  S, 

LoxDON,  October,  1873. 


•^o> 


,/,-; 


CONTENTS. 


THE  HUGUENOTS  IN  FRANCE  AFTER  THE  REVOCATION 
OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 


CHAPTER 

I.    KEVOCATION    OF    THE   EDICT   OP   XANTES   ... 

II.    EFFECTS    OF    THE   REYOCATIOX — CHURCH   IX   THE   DESERT 

III.  CLAUDE   BROUSSON,     THE   HUGUEXOT   ADVOCATE 

IV.  CLAUDE   BROUSSOX,   PASTOR    AXD    MARTYR 
V.    OUTBREAK.   IN  LANGUEDOC 

VI.   INSURRECTIOX    OF   THE    CAMISARDS 
Vir.    EXPLOITS   OF    CAVALIER  . 
VIII.    EXD    OF   THE    CAMISARD    INSURRECTION 
IX.    GALLEY-SLAVES   FOR   THE   FAITH      . 
X.    ANTOIXE    COURT      .... 

XI.    EEORGANIZATIOX    OF   THE    CHURCH   IN   THE   DESERT 
XII.   THE   CHURCH   IX   IHE   DESERT — PAUL   RABAUT 
XIII.    END    OF   THE   PERSECUTIONS THE   FREXCH   REVOLUTIOX 


PAGE 
1 

.  12 
.  30 
.  50 
.  75 
.  99 
.  130 
.  166 
.  190 
.  205 
.  218 
.  235 
.  253 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

1.    INTRODUCTORY— EARLY   PERSECUTIOXS    OF   THE   VAUDOIS  .    287 

II.  THE   VALLEY   OF   THE   ROMANCHE — BRIAX9ON  .  .  .    305 

III.  VAL    LOUISE — HISTORY    OF    FELIX   XEFP  ....    324 

IV.  THE   VAUDOIS   MOUXTAIN-REFUGE    OF   DORMILHOUfE  .  .341 
Y.    GUILLESTRE   AND   THE   VALLEY    OF   QUEYRAS   .            .            .  .359 

VT.    THE    VALLEY     OP     THE     PELICE — LA    TOUR — AXGKOGNA — THE 

PRA  DE   TOUR 376 

VII.    THE    GLORIOUS   RETURX  :     AX   EPISODE    IN   THE   HISTORY     OF 

THE    ITALIAN    VAUDOIS 397 


THE  EFGUENOTS  IN  FEANCE. 


I 


► 


CHAPTER  I. 

REVOCATION   OF   THE   EDICT  OF   NANTES. 

THE  Hevocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  signed 
by  Louis  XIY.  of  France,  on  tlie  18th.  of  October, 
1685,  and  published  four  days  afterwards. 

Although  the  Revocation  was  the  personal  act  of 
the  King,  it  was  nevertheless  a  popular  measure, 
approved  by  the  Catholic  Church  of  France,  and  by 
the  great  body  of  the  French  people. 

The  King  had  solemnly  sworn,  at  the  beginning  of 
his  reign,  to  maintain  the  tolerating  Edict  of  Henry  TV. 
— the  Huguenots  being  amongst  the  most  industrious, 
enterprising,  and  loyal  of  his  subjects.  But  the  advo- 
cacy of  the  King's  then  Catholic  mistress,  Madame  de 
Maintenon,  and  of  his  Jesuit  Confessor,  Pere  la  Chaise, 
overcame  his  scruples,  and  the  deed  of  Revocation  of 
the  Edict  was  at  length  signed  and  published. 

The  aged  Chancellor,  Le  Tellier,  was  so  overjoyed  at 
the  measure,  that  on  affixing  the  great  seal  of  France 
to  the  deed,  he  exclaimed,  in  the  words  of  Simeon, 
"  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace, 
for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 


2  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Three  montlis  later,  tlie  great  Bossuet,  tlie  eagle  of 
Meaux,  preached  the  funeral  sermon  of  Le  Tellier;  in 
the  course  of  which  he  testified  to  the  immense  joy  of 
the  Church  at  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict.  "  Let  us," 
said  he,  ''  expand  our  hearts  in  praises  of  the  piety  of 
Louis.  Let  our  acclamations  ascend  to  heaven,  and 
let  us  say  to  this  new  Constantine,  this  new  Theodosius, 
this  new  Marcian,  this  new  Charlemagne,  what  the 
thirty- six  fathers  formerly  said  in  the  Council  of  Chal- 
cedon :  '  You  have  affirmed  the  faith,  you  have  extermi- 
nated the  heretics  ;  it  is  a  work  worthy  of  your  reign, 
whose  proper  character  it  is.  Thanks  to  you,  heresy  is 
no  more.  God  alone  can  have  worked  this  marvel. 
King  of  heaven,  preserve  the  King  of  earth  :  it  is 
the  prayer  of  the  Church,  it  is  the  prayer  of  the 
Bishops?  "* 

Madame  de  Maintenon  also  received  the  praises 
of  the  Church.  "All  good  people,''  said  the  Abbe  de 
Choisy,  "the  Pope,  the  bisho23s,  and  all  the  clergj^, 
rejoice  at  the  victory  of  Madame  de  Maintenon." 
Madame  enjoyed  the  surname  of  Director  of  the  Affairs 
of  the  Clergy  ;  and  it  was  said  by  the  ladies  of  St.  Cyr 
(an  institution  founded  by  her),  that  "  the  cardinals 
and  the  bishops  knew  no  other  way  of  approaching  the 
King  save  through  her." 

It  is  generally  believed  that  her  price  for  obtaining 
the  King's  consent  to  the  Act  of  Revocation,  was  the 
withdrawal  by  the  clergy  of  their  opposition  to  her  mar- 
riage with  the  King;  and  that  the  two  were  privately 
united  by  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  at  Versailles,  a  few 
days  after,  in  the  presence  of  Pere  la  Chaise  and 
two  more  witnesses.  But  Louis  XIY.  never  publicly 
recognised  De  Maintenon  as  his  wife — never  rescued 

*  Eossuet,  "  Oraison  Funebre  du  Chancellier  Letellier." 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES,  3 

her  from  tlie  ignominious  position  in  which  she  origin- 
ally stood  related  to  him. 

People  at  court  all  spoke  with  immense  praises  of 
the  King's  intentions  with  respect  to  destroying  the 
Huguenots.  *''  KilKng  them  off"  was  a  matter  of 
badinage  with  the  courtiers.  Madame  de  Maintenon 
wrote  to  the  Due  de  JSToailles,  "  The  soldiers  are  kill- 
ing numbers  of  the  ftmatics — they  hope  soon  to  free 
Languedoc  of  them." 

That  picquante  letter-writer,  Madame  de  Sevigne, 
often  referred  to  the  Huguenots.  She  seems  to  have 
classed  them  with  criminals  or  wild  beasts.  When 
residing  in  Low  Brittany  during  a  revolt  against 
the  Gabelle,  a  friend  wrote  to  her,  "How  dull  you 
must  be  !  "  "  No,"  replied  Madame  de  Sevigne,  "  we 
are  not  so  dull — hanging  is  quite  a  refreshment  to 
one !  They  have  just  taken  t^yenty-four  or  thirty  of 
these  men,  and  are  going  to  throw  them  off." 

A  few  days  after  the  Edict  had  been  revoked,  she  wrote 
to  her  cousin  Bussy,  at  Paris :  "  You  have  doubtless  seen 
the  Edict  by  which  the  King  revokes  that  of  Nantes. 
There  is  nothing  so  fine  as  that  which  It  contains,  and 
never  has  any  King  done,  or  ever  will  do,  a  more 
memorable  act."  Bussy  replied  to  her  :  "I  immensely 
admire  the  conduct  of  the  King  in  destroj^'ng  the 
Huguenots.  The  wars  which  have  been  waged  against 
them,  and  the  St.  Bartholomew,  have  given  some 
reputation  to  the  sect.  His  Majesty  has  gradually 
undermined  it ;  and  the  edict  he  has  just  published, 
maintained  by  the  dragoons  and  by  Bourdaloue,*  will 
soon  give  them  the  coup  cU  grace J^ 

*  BourdalouG  had  just  been  sent  from  tlie  Jesuit  Churc*)!  of  St 
Louis  at  Paris,  to  Montpelier,  to  aid  the  dragoons  in  converting  the 
Protestants,  and  bringing  them  back  to  the  Church. 

2 


4  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

In  a  future"  letter  to  Count  Bussy,  Madame  de  Sevigne 
informed  him  of  '^a  dreadfully  fcitiguing  journey  which 
her  son-in-law  M.  de  Grignan  had  made  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Dauphiny,  to  pursue  and  punish  the  miser- 
able Huguenots,  who  issued  from  their  holes,  and 
vanished  like  ghosts  to  avoid  extermination." 

De  Baville,  however,  the  Lieutenant  of  Languedoc, 
kept  her  in  good  heart.  In  one  of  his  letters,  he  said, 
''  I  have  this  morning  condemned  seventy-six  of  these 
wretches  (Huguenots),  and  sent  them  to  the  galleys." 
All  this  was  very  pleasant  to  Madame  de  Sevigne. 

Madame  de  Scuderi,  also,  more  moderately  rejoiced 
in  the  Act  of  Kevocation.  ''The  King,"  she  wrote  to 
Bussy,  "  has  worked  great  marvels  against  the 
Huguenots  ;  and  the  authority  which  he  has  employed 
to  unite  them  to  the  Church  will  be  most  salutary  to 
themselves  and  to  their  children,  who  will  be  educated 
in  the  purity  of  the  faith ;  all  this  will  bring  upon  him 
the  benedictions  of  Heaven." 

Even  the  French  Academy,  though  originally  founded 
by  a  Huguenot,  publicly  approved  the  deed  of  lie  voca- 
tion. In  a  discourse  uttered  before  it,  the  Abbe  Talle- 
mand  exclaimed,  when  speaking  of  the  Huguenot 
temple  at  Charenton,  which  had  just  been  destroyed 
by  the  mob,  "  Happy  ruins,  the  finest  trophy  France 
ever  beheld  !"  La  Fontaine  described  heresy  as  now 
"reduced  to  the  last  gasp."  Thomas  Corneille  also 
eulogized  the  zeal  of  the  King  in  "  throttling  the  He- 
formation."  Barbier  D'Aucourt  heedlessly,  but  truly, 
compared  the  emigration  of  the  Protestants  ''  to  the 
departure  of  the  Israelites  from  Egj'pt."  The  Academy 
afterwards  proposed,  as  the  subject  of  a  poem,  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  Fontenelle  had 
the  fortune,  good  or  bad,  of  winning  the  prize. 


REVOCA  TION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  5 

The  plillosoplilc  La  Bruyere  contributed  a  maxim 
in  praise  of  tlie  Revocation.  Quinault  wrote  a  poem 
on  the  subject ;  and  Madame  Deshoulieres  felt  inspired 
to  sing  "  The  Destruction  of  Heresy.''  The  Abbe  de 
Ranee  spoke  of  the  whole  affair  as  a  prodigy  :  "  The 
Temple  of  Charenton  destroyed,  and  no  exercise  of 
Protestantism  within  the  kingdom ;  it  is  a  kind  of 
miracle,  such  as  we  had  never  hoped  to  have  seen  in  our 
day." 

The  Revocation  was  popular  Avith  the  lower  class, 
who  went  about  sacking  and  pulling  down  the  Pro- 
testant churches.  They  also  tracked  the  Huguenots 
and  their  pastors,  where  they  found  them  evading  or 
breaking  the  Edict  of  Revocation  ;  thus  earning  the 
praises  of  the  Church  and  the  tines  offered  by  the  King 
for  their  apprehension.  The  provosts  and  sheriffs  of 
Paris  represented  the  popular  feeling,  by  erecting  a 
brazen  statue  of  the  King  who  had  rooted  out  heresy ; 
and  they  struck  and  distributed  medals  in  honour  of 
the  great  event. 

The  Revocation  was  also  popular  with  the  dragoons. 
In  order  to  ''  convert "  the  Protestants,  the  dragoons 
were  unduly  billeted  upon  them.  As  both  officers  and 
soldiers  were  then  very  badly  paid,  they  were  thereby 
enabled  to  live  at  free  quarters.  They  treated  every- 
thing in  the  houses  they  occupied  as  if  it  were  their  own, 
and  an  assignment  of  billets  was  little  less  than  the  con- 
signment of  the  premises  to  the  military,  to  use  for  their 
own  purposes,  during  the  time  they  occupied  them.* 

The   Revocation  was  also   approved   by  those  who 

wished  to  buy  land  cheap.     As  the  Huguenots  were 

prevented  holding  their  estates  unless  they  conformed 

to  the    Catholic   religion,  and   as   many  estates  were 

*  Sir  John  Eeresby's  Travels  and  Memoirs. 


6  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

accordingly  confiscated  and  sold,  land  sj)eculators,  as 
well  as  grand  seigneurs  who  wished  to  increase  their 
estates,  were  constantly  on  the  look-out  for  good  bar- 
gains. Even  before  the  Revocation,  when  the  Hugue- 
nots were  selling  their  land  in  order  to  leave  the 
country,  Madame  de  Maintenon  wrote  to  her  nephew, 
for  whom  she  had  obtained  from  the  King  a  grant  of 
800,000  francs,  "  I  beg  of  you  carefully  to  use  the 
money  you  are  about  to  receive.  Estates  in  Poitou 
may  be  got  for  nothing  ;  the  desolation  of  the  Hugue- 
nots will  drive  them  to  sell  more.  You  may  easily 
acquire  extensive  possessions  in  Poitou." 

The  Revocation  was  especially  gratifying  to  the 
French  Catholic  Church.  The  Pope,  of  course,  ap- 
proved of  it.  Te  Deums  were  sung  at  Rome  in  thanks- 
giving for  the  forced  conversion  of  the  Huguenots. 
Pope  Innocent  XL  sent  a  brief  to  Louis  XIY.,  in  which 
he  promised  him  the  unanimous  praises  of  the  Church. 
*'  Amongst  all  the  proofs,"  said  he,  "  which  your 
Majesty  has  given  of  natural  piety,  not  the  least 
brilliant  is  the  zeal,  truly  worthy  of  the  most  Christian 
King,  which  has  induced  you  to  revoke  all  the  or- 
dinances issued  in  favour  of  the  heretics  of  your 
kingdom."* 

The  Jesuits  were  especially"  elated  by  the  Revoca- 
tion. It  had  been  brought  about  by  the  intrigues  of 
their  party,  acting  on  the  King's  mind  through  Madame 
de  Maintenon  and  Pere  la  Chaise.  It  enabled  them 
to  fill  their  schools  and  nunneries  with  the  children  oi 
Protestants,  who  were  compelled  by  law  to  pay  for 
their  education  by  Jesuit  priests.  To  furnish  the 
required  accommodation,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Pro- 
testant temples  that  had  not  been  pulled  down  were 

*  Tope  Innocent  XL's  Letter  of  November  13lh,  16S5. 


REVOCA  TION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.   7 

made  over  to  tlie  Jesuits,  to  be  converted  into  monastic 
schools  and  nunneries.  Even  Bossuet,  tlie  ''  last  father 
of  the  Church/'  shared  in  the  spoils  of  the  Huguenots. 
A  few  daj's  after  the  Edict  had  been  revoked,  Bossuet 
applied  for  the  materials  of  the  temples  of  Nauteuil 
and  Morcerf,  situated  in  his  diocese  ;  and  his  Majesty 
ordered  that  they  should  be  granted  to  him.* 

j^ow  that  Protestantism  had  been  put  down,  and 
the  officers  of  Louis  announced  from  all  parts  of  the 
kingdom  that  the  Huguenots  were  becoming  converted 
by  thousands,  there  was  nothing  but  a  clear  course 
before  the  Jesuits  in  France.  For  their  religion  was 
now  ^vihe  favoured  religion  of  the  State. 

It  is  true  there  were  the  Jansenists — declared  to  be 
heretical  by  the  Popes,  and  distinguished  for  their  oppo- 
sition to  the  doctrines  and  moral  teaching  of  the  Jesuits 
— who  were  suffering  from  a  persecution  which  then 
drove  some  of  the  members  of  Port  Royal  into  exile, 
and  eventually  destroyed  them.  But  even  the  Jan- 
senists approved  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants. 
The  great  Arnault,  their  most  illustrious  interpreter, 
though  in  exile  in  the  Low  Countries,  declared  that 
though  the  means  which  Louis  XIY.  had  employed  had 
been  "  rather  violent,  they  had  in  nowise  been  unjust." 

But  Protestantism  being  declared  destroyed,  and 
Jansenism  being  in  disgrace,  there  was  virtually  no 
legal  religion  in  France  but  one — that  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  Atheism,  it  is  true,  was  tolerated, 
but  then  Atheism  was  not  a  religion.  The  Atheists 
did  not,  like  the  Protestants,  set  up  rival  churches,  or 
appoint  rival  ministers,  and  seek  to  draw  people  to  their 
assemblies.  The  Atheists,  though  they  tacitly  ap- 
proved the  religion  of  the  King,  had  no  opposition 
*  "  Louvois  et  les  Protestants,"  par  A-dolphe  Michel,  p.  286, 


8  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

to  offer  to  It — only   neglect,    and   perhaps    concealed 
contempt. 

Hence  it  followed  that  the  Court  and  the  clergy  had 
far  more  toleration  for  Atheism  than  for  either  Pro- 
testantism or  Jansenism.  It  is  authentically  related 
that  Louis  XI Y.  on  one  occasion  objected  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  representative  on  a  foreign  mission  on  account 
of  the  person  being  supposed  to  be  a  Jansenist ;  but 
on  its  being  discovered  that  the  nominee  was  only  an 
Atheist,  the  objection  was  at  once  withdrawn.* 

At  the  time  of  the  Ke vocation,  when  the  King  and 
the  Catholic  Church  were  resolved  to  tolerate  no 
religion  other  than  itself,  the  Church  had  never  seemed 
so  powerful  in  France.  It  had  a  strong  hold  upon  the 
minds  of  the  people.  It  was  powerful  in  its  leaders  and 
its  great  preachers  ;  in  fact,  France  has  never,  either 
before  or  since,  exhibited  such  an  array  of  preaching 
genius  as  Bossuet,  Bourdaloue,  Flcchier,  and  Massillon. 

Yet  the  uncontrolled  and  enormously  increased 
power  conferred  upon  the  French  Church  at  that 
time,  most  probably  proved  its  greatest  calamity.  Less 
than  a  hundred  years  after  the  Revocation,  the  Church 
had  lost  its  influence  over  the  joeople,  and  was  despised. 
The  Deists  and  Atheists,  sprung  from  the  Church's 
bosom,  were  in  the  ascendant ;  and  Yoltaire,  Rousseau, 
Diderot,  and  Mirabeau,  were  regarded  as  greater  men 
than  either  Bossuet,  Bourdaloue,  Flechier,  or  Massillon. 

Xot  one  of  the  clergy  we  have  named,  powerful 
orators  though  they  were,  ever  ventured  to  call  in 
question  the  cruelties  with  which  the  King  sought 
to  compel  the  Protestants  to  embrace  the  dogmas 
of  their  Church.  TLere  were  no  doubt  many  Ca- 
tholics   who    deplored    the    force    practised    on    the 

*   Quarterly  Review. 


REVOCA  TION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.   9 

Huguenots  ;  but  they  were  greatly  in  tlie  minority, 
and  had  no  power  to  make  tlieir  opposition  felt.  Some 
of  them  considered  it  an  impious  sacrilege  to  compel 
the  Protestants  to  take  the  Catholic  sacrament — to  force 
them  to  accept  the  host,  which  Catholics  believed  to  be 
the  veritable  body  of  Christ,  but  which  the  Huguenots 
could  only  accept  as  bread,  over  which  some  function 
had  been  performed  by  the  priests,  in  whose  mira- 
culous power  of  conversion  they  did  not  believe. 

Fenelon  took  this  view  of  the  forcible  course 
employed  by  the  Jesuits  ;  but  he  was  in  disgrace  as  a 
Jansenist,  and  what  he  wrote  on  the  subject  remained 
for  a  long  time  unknown,  and  was  only  first  pub- 
lished in  1825.  The  Due  de  Saint-Simon,  also  a  Jan- 
senist, took  the  same  view,  which  he  embodied  in 
his  '^Memoirs;''  but  these  were  kept  secret  by  his 
family,  and  were  not  published  for  nearly  a  century 
after  his  death. 

Thus  the  Catholic  Church  remained  triumphant. 
The  Revocation  was  apparently  approved  by  all,  ex- 
cepting the  Huguenots.  The  King  was  flattered  by  the 
perpetual  conversions  reported  to  be  going  on  through- 
out the  countr}^ — five  thousand  persons  in  one  place, 
ten  thousand  in  another,  who  had  abjured  and  taken 
the  communion — at  once,  and  sometimes  "  instantly." 

"  The  King,"  says  Saint-Simon,  ^'  congratulated 
himself  on  his  power  and  his  piety.  He  believed  himself 
to  have  renewed  the  days  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Apostles,  and  attributed  to  himself  all  the  honour. 
The  Bishops  wrote  panegyrics  of  him  ;  the  Jesuits  made 

the  pulpits  resound  with  his  praises He 

swallowed  their  poison  in  deep  draughts.'*  * 

*  "  Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of  Saint-Simon,"  translated  by  Bayle  St. 
John,  vol.  iii.  p.  260. 


10  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

Louis  XIY.  lived  for  thirty  years  after  tlie  Edict  of 
Nantes  had  been  revoked.  He  had  therefore  the 
fullest  opportunity  of  observing  the  results  of  the 
policy  he  had  pursued.  He  died  in  the  hands  of  the 
Jesuits,  his  body  covered  with  relics  of  the  true  cross. 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  the  "  famous  and  fatal  witch/* 
as  Saint-Simon  called  her,  abandoned  him  at  last ; 
and  the  King  died,  lamented  by  no  one. 

He  had  banished,  or  destroyed,  during  his  reign, 
about  a  million  of  his  subjects,  and  those  who  remained 
y^  did  not  respect  him.  Many  regarded  him  as  a  self-con- 
ceited tyrant,  who  sought  to  save  his  own  soul  by  inflict- 
ing penance  on  the  backs  of  others.  He  loaded  his 
kingdom  with  debt,  and  overwhelmed  his  people  with 
taxes.  He  destroyed  the  industry  of  France,  which 
had  been  mainly  supported  by  the  Huguenots.  Towards 
the  end  of  his  life  he  became  generally  hated ;  and 
while  his  heart  was  conveyed  to  the  Grand  Jesuits, 
his  body,  which  was  buried  at  St.  Denis,  was  hurried  to 
the  grave  accompanied  by  the  execrations  of  the  people. 

Yet  the  Church  remained  faithful  to  him  to  the 
last.  The  great  Massillon  preached  his  funeral 
sermon  ;  though  the  message  was  draped  in  the  livery 
of  the  Court.  *'  How  far,"  said  he,  "■  did  Louis  XIY. 
carry  his  zeal  for  the  Church,  that  virtue  of  sovereigns 
who  have  received  power  and  the  sword  only  that 
they  may  be  props  of  the  altar  and  defenders  of  its 
doctrine  !  Specious  reasons  of  State  !  In  vain  did  you 
oppose  to  Louis  the  timid  views  of  human  wisdom,  the 
body  of  the  monarchy  enfeebled  by  the  flight  of  so 
many  citizens,  the  course  of  trade  slackened,  either  by 
the  deprivation  of  their  industry,  or  by  the  furtive 
removal  of  their  wealth  !  Dano^ers  fortifv  his  zeal. 
The  work  of  God  fears  not  man.     He  believes   even 


REVOCA  TION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.    1 1 

that  lie  strengthens  Ms  throne  by  overthrowing  that  of 
error.  The  profane  temples  are  destroyed,  the  pnlpits 
of  seduction  are  cast  down.  The  prophets  of  false- 
hood are  torn  from  their  flocks.  At  the  first  blow  dealt 
to  it  by  Louis,  heresy  falls,  disappears,  and  is  reduced 
either  to  hide  itself  in  the  obscurity  whence  it  issued, 
or  to  cross  the  seas,  and  to  bear  with  it  into  foreign 
lands  its  false  gods,  its  bitterness,  and  its  rage."  * 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  temper  which  the 
Huguenots  displayed  when  they  were  driven  from 
France  by  persecution,  they  certainly  carried  with 
them  something  far  more  valuable  than  rage.  They 
carried  with  them  their  virtue,  piety,  industry,  and 
valour,  which  proved  the  source  of  wealth,  spirit, 
freedom,  and  character,  in  all  those  countries — Hol- 
land, Prussia,  England,  and  America — in  which  these 
noble  exiles  took  refuge. 

We  shall  next  see  whether  the  Huguenots  had  any 
occasion  for  entertaining  the  ''  rage '^  which  the  great 
Massillon  attributed  to  them. 

*  Funeral  Oration  on  Louis  XIV. 


CHAPTEE,  11. 

EFFECTS    OF    THE    KEVOCATION. 

THE  Revocation  struck  Avitli  civil  deatli  the  entire 
.  Protestant  population  of  France.  All  the  liberty 
of  conscience  wliicli  they  had  enjoyed  under  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  was  swej^t  away  by  the  act  of  the  King. 
They  were  dejDrived  of  every  right  and  privilege  ;  their 
social  life  was  destroyed ;  their  callings  were  pro- 
scribed ;  their  property  was  liable  to  be  confiscated  at 
any  moment ;  and  they  were  subjected  to  mean,  detest- 
able, and  outrageous  cruelties. 

From  the  day  of  the  Bevocation,  the  relation  of 
Louis  XI Y.  to  his  Huguenot  subjects  was  that  of  the 
Tyrant  and  his  Yictims.  The  only  resource  which 
remained  to  the  latter  was  that  of  flying  from  their 
native  country  ;  and  an  immense  number  of  persons 
took  the  opportunity  of  escaping  from  France. 

The  Edict  of  Pevocation  proclaimed  that  the 
Huguenot  subjects  of  France  must  thenceforward  be 
of  *' the  King's  religion ;"  and  the  order  was  promul- 
gated throughout  the  kingdom.  The  Prime  Minister, 
Louvois,  wrote  to  the  provincial  governors,  "His 
Majesty  desires  that  the  severest  rigour  shall  be  shown 
to  those  who  will  not  conform  to  His  Religion,  and 
those  who  seek  the  foolish  glory  of  wishing  to  be  the 
last,  must  be  pushed  to  the  utmost  extremity." 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  13 

The  Huguenots  were  forbidden,  under  the  penalty  of 
death,  to  worship  publicly  after  their  own  religious  forms. 
They  were  also  forbidden,  under  the  penalty  of  being 
sent  to  the  galleys  for  life,  to  worship  privately  in  their 
own  homes.  If  they  were  overheard  singing  their 
favourite  psalms,  they  were  liable  to  fine,  imprisonment, 
or  the  galleys.  They  were  compelled  to  hang  out  flags 
from  their  houses  on  the  days  of  Catholic  processions  ; 
but  they  were  forbidden,  under  a  heavy  penalty,  to  look 
out  of  their  windows  when  the  Corpus  Domini  was 
borne  along  the  streets. 

The  Huguenots  were  rigidly  forbidden  to  instruct 
their  children  in  their  own  faith.  They  were  com- 
manded to  send  them  to  the  priest  to  be  baptized  and 
brought  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  under  the 
penalty  of  five  hundred  livres  fine  in  each  case.  The 
boys  were  educated  in  Jesuit  schools,  the  girls  in 
nunneries,  the  parents  being  compelled  to  pay  the 
required  exj)enses  ;  and  where  the  parents  were  too 
poor  to  pay,  the  children  were  at  once  transferred  to 
the  general  hospitals.  A  decree  of  the  King,  published 
in  December,  1685,  ordered  that  every  child  oi  five 
years  and  upwards  was  to  be  taken  ]3ossession  of  by  the 
authorities,  and  removed  from  its  Protestant  parents. 
This  decree  often  j)roved  a  sentence  of  death,  not  only 
to  the  child,  but  to  its  parents. 

The  whole  of  the  Protestant  temples  throughout 
France  were  subject  to  demolition.  The  expelled 
pastors  were  compelled  to  evacuate  the  country  within 
fifteen  days.  If,  in  the  meantime,  they  were  found 
performing  their  functions,  they  were  liable  to  be  sent 
to  the  galleys  for  life.  If  they  undertook  to  marry 
Protestants,  the  marriages  were  declared  illegal,  and 
the  children  bastards.      If,     after   the  expiry  of  the 


14  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

fifteen  days,  they  were  found  lingering  in  France,  tlie 
pastors  were  then  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death. 

Protestants  could  neither  be  born,  nor  live,  nor  die, 
without  state  and  priestly  interference.  Protestant 
sages-femmes  were  not  permitted  to  exercise  their  func- 
tions ;  Protestant  doctors  were  prohibited  from  practis- 
ing ;  Protestant  surgeons  and  apothecaries  were  sup- 
pressed; Protestant  advocates,  notaries,  and  lawyers 
were  interdicted ;  Protestants  could  not  teach,  and  all 
their  schools,  public  and  private,  were  put  down. 
Protestants  were  no  longer  employed  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  affairs  of  finance,  as  collectors  of  taxes,  or  even 
as  labourers  on  the  public  roads,  or  in  any  other  office. 
Even  Protestant  grocers  were  forbidden  to  exercise 
their  calling. 

There  must  be  no  Protestant  librarians,  booksellers, 
or  printers.  There  was,  indeed,  a  general  raid  upon 
Protestant  literature  all  over  France.  All  Bibles, 
Testaments,  and  books  of  religious  instruction,  were 
collected  and  publicly  burnt.  '  There  were  bonfires  in 
almost  every  town.  At  Metz,  it  occupied  a  whole  day 
to  burn  the  Protestant  books  which  had  been  seized, 
handed  over  to  the  clergy,  and  condemned  to  be 
destroyed. 

Protestants  were  even  forbidden  to  hire  out  horses, 
and  Protestant  grooms  were  forbidden  to  give  riding 
lessons.  Protestant  domestics  were  forbidden  to  hire 
themselves  as  servants,  and  Protestant  mistresses  were 
forbidden  to  hire  them  under  heavy  penalties.  If  they 
engaged  Protestant  servants,  they  were  liable  to  be 
sent  to  the  galleys  for  life.  They  were  even  prevented 
employing  "  new  converts." 

Artisans  were  forbidden  to  work  without  certificates 
that  their  religion  was  Catholic.    Protestant  apprentice- 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  15 

slilps  were  suppressed.  Protestant  waslierwomen  were 
excluded  frora  their  washing-places  on  the  river.  In 
fact,  there  was  scarcely  a  degradation  that  could  be 
invented,  or  an  insult  that  could  be  perpetrated,  that 
was  not  practised  upon  those  poor  Huguenots  who 
refused  to  be  of  '^  the  King's  religion." 

Even  when  Protestants  were  about  to  take  refuge  in 
death,  their  troubles  were  not  over.  The  priests  had 
the  power  of  forcing  their  way  into  the  dying  man's 
house,  where  they  presented  themselves  at  his  bedside, 
and  offered  him  conversion  and  the  viaticum.  If  the 
dying  man  refused  these,  he  was  liable  to  be  seized  after 
death,  dragged  from  the  house,  pulled  along  the  streets 
naked,  and  buried  in  a  ditch,  or  thrown  upon  a  dunghill.* 

For  several  years  before  the  Eevocation,  while  the 
persecutions  of  the  Huguenots  had  been  increasing,  many 
had  realised  their  means,  and  fled  abroad  into  Switzer- 
land, Germany,  Holland,  and  England.  But  after  the 
Revocation,  emigration  from  France  was  strictly 
forbidden,  under  penalty  of  confiscation  of  the  whole 
goods  and  property  of  the  emigrant.  Any  person 
found  attempting  to  leave  the  countrj^  was  liable  to 
the  seizure  of  all  that  belonged  to  him,  and  to  per- 
petual imprisonment  at  the  galleys ;  one  half  the 
amount  realised  by  the  sale  of  the  property  being  paid 
to  the  informers,  who  thus  became  the  most  active 
agents  of  the  Government.  The  Act  also  ordered  that 
all  landed  proprietors  who  had  left  France  before  the 

*  Such  was,  in  fact,  the  end  of  a  man  so  distinguished  as  M.  Paul 
Chenevix,  Councillor  of  the  Court  of  Metz,  who  dfed  in  1686,  the  year 
after  the  Eevocation.  Although  of  the  age  of  eighty,  and  so  illustrious 
for  his  learning,  his  dead  hody  was  dragged  along  the  streets  on  a 
hurdle  and  thrown  upon  a  dunghill.  See  "  Huguenot  Refugees  and 
their  Descendants,"  under  the  name  Chenevix.  The  present  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin  is  descended  from  liis  brother  Philip  Chenevix.  who 
settled  in  England  shortly  after  the  PvCvocation. 


1 6  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Revocation,  should  return  within  four  months,  under 
penalty  of  confiscation  of  all  their  property. 

Amongst  those  of  the  King's  subjects  who  were  the 
most  ready  to  obey  his  orders  were  some  of  the  old 
Huo'uenot  noble  families,  such  as  the  members  of  the 
houses  of  Bouillon,  Coligny,  Rohan,  Tremouille,  Sully, 
and  La  Force.  These  great  vassals,  whom  a  turbulent 
feudalism  had  probably  in  the  first  instance  induced  to 
embrace  Protestantism,  were  now  found  ready  to  change 
their  profession  of  religion  in  servile  obedience"  to  the 
monarch. 

The  lesser  nobility  were  more  faithful  and  consistent. 
Many  of  them  abandoned  their  estates  and  fled  across 
the  frontier,  rather  than  live  a  daily  lie  to  God  by  for- 
swearing the  religion  of  their  conscience.  Others  of 
this  class,  on  whom  religion  sat  more  lightly,  as  the 
only  means  of  saving  their  property  from  confiscation, 
pretended  to  be  converted  to  Roman  Catholicism ; 
though,  we  shall  find,  that  these  "new  converts,"  as 
they  were  called,  were  treated  with  as  much  suspicion 
on  the  one  side  as  they  were  regarded  with  contemj)t 
on  the  other. 

There  were  also  the  Huguenot  manufacturers,  mer- 
chants, and  employers  of  labour,  of  whom  a  large 
number  closed  their  workshops  and  factories,  sold  off 
their  goods,  converted  everything  into  cash,  at  what- 
ever sacrifice,  and  fled  across  the  frontier  into  Switzer- 
land— either  settling  there,  or  passing  through  it  on 
their  way  to  Germany,  Holland,  or  England. 

It  was  necessary  to  stop  this  emigration,  which  was 
rapidly  diminishing  the  population,  and  steadily  im- 
poverishing the  country.  It  was  indeed  a  terrible 
thing  for  Frenchmen  to  tear  themselves  away  from 
their  country — Frenchmen,  who  have  always  clung  so 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  17 

close  to  their  soil  that  they  have  rarely  been  able  to 
form  colonies  of  emigration  elsewhere — it  was  breaking 
so  many  living  fibres  to  leave  France,  to  quit  the  homes 
of  their  fathers,  their  firesides,  their  kin,  and  their  race. 
Yet,  in  a  multitude  of  cases,  they  were  compelled  to  tear 
themselves  by  the  roots  out  of  the  France  they  so  loved. 

Yet  it  was  so  very  easy  for  them  to  remain.  The 
King  merely  required  them  to  be  ''converted/'  He 
held  that  loyalty  required  them  to  be  of  ''his  reli- 
gion/' On  the  19th  of  Qctober,  1685,  the  day  after  he 
had  signed  the  Act  of  Eevocation,  La  Reynee,  lieu- 
tenant of  the  police  of  Paris,  issued  a  notice  to  the 
Huguenot  tradespeople  and  working-classes,  requiring 
them  to  be  converted  instantly.  Many  of  them  were 
terrified,  and  conformed  accordingly.  !N'ext  day,  an- 
other notice  was  issued  to  the  Huguenot  bourgeois, 
requiring  them  to  assemble  on  the  following  day  for 
the  purpose  of  publicly  making  a  declaration  of  their 
conversion. 

The  residt  of  these  measures  was  to  make  hypo- 
crites rather  than  believers,  and  they  took  efiect 
upon  the  weakest  and  least-principled  persons.  The 
strongest,  most  independent,  and  high-minded  of  the 
Huguenots,  who  would  not  be  hypocrites,  resolved 
passively  to  resist  them, .  and  if  they  could  not  be 
allowed  to  exercise  freedom  of  conscience  in  their  own 
country,  they  determined  to  seek  it  elsewhere.  Hence 
the  large  increase  in  the  emigration  from  all  parts  of 
France  immediately  after  the  Act  of  Revocation  had 
been  proclaimed.*    All  the  roads  leading  to  the  frontier 

*  It  is  believed  that  400,000  emigrants  left  France  through  reli- 
gious persecution  during  the  twenty  years  previous  to  the  Revocation, 
and  that  600,000  escaped  during  the  twenty  years  after  that  event. 
M.  Charles  Coquerel  estimates  the  number  of  Protestants  in  France 
at  that  time  to  have  been  two  millions  of  men  ("  Eglises  du  Desert,"  i. 
497).     The  number  of  Protestant  pastors  was  about  one  thousand — 


1 8  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

or  the  sea-coast  streamed  with,  fugitives.  Tliey  went  in 
various  forms  and  guises — sometimes  in  bodies  of 
armed  men,  at  other  times  in  solitary  parties,  travel- 
ling at  night  and  sleeping  in  the  woods  by  day.  They 
went  as  beggars,  travelling  merchants,  sellers  of  beads 
and  chaplets,  gipsies,  soldiers,  shepherds,  women  with 
their  faces  dyed  and  sometimes  dressed  in  men's 
clothes,  and  in  all  manner  of  disguises. 

To  prevent  this  extensive  emigration,  more  violent 
measures  were  adopted.  Every  road  out  of  France  was 
posted  w^ith  guards.  The  towns,  highways,  bridges, 
and  ferries,  were  all  watched  ;  and  heavy  rewards  were 
promised  to  those  who  would  stop  and  bring  back  the 
fuo-itives.  Many  were  taken,  loaded  with  irons,  and  dis- 
patched by  the  most  public  roads  through  France — as  a 
sight  to  be  seen  by  other  Protestants — to  the  galleys  at 
Marseilles,  Brest,  and  other  ports.  As  they  went  along 
they  were  subject  to  every  sort  of  indignity  in  the  towns 
and  villages  through  which  they  passed.  They  were 
hooted,  stoned,  spit  upon,  and  loaded  with  insult. 

Man}^  others  went  by  sea,  in  French  as  well  as  in 
foreign  ships.  Though  the  sailors  of  France  were  pro- 
hibited the  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion,  under  the 
penalty  of  fines,  corporal  punishment,  and  seizure  of 
the  vessels  where  the  worsl^p  was  allowed,  yet  many 
of  the  emigrants  contrived  to  get  away  by  the  help  of 
French  ship  captains,  masters  of  sloops,  fishing-boats, 
and  coast  pilots — who  most  probably  sympathized  with 
the  views  of  those  who  wished  to  fly  their  country 
rather  than  become  hypocrites  and  forswear  their 
religion.      A  large   number  of  emigrants,  who  went 

of  whom  six  hundred  went  into  exile,  one  hundred  were  executed  or 
sent  to  the  galleys,  and  the  rest  are  supposed  to  have  accepted 
pensions  as  '*  now  converts." 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  19 

hurriedly  off  to  sea  in  little  boats,  must  have  been 
drowned,  as  tbey  were  never  afterwards  beard  of. 

There  were  also  many  English  ships  that  appeared 
off  the  coast  to  take  the  flying  Huguenots  away  by 
night.  They  also  escaped  in  foreign  ships  taking  in  their 
cargoes  in  the  western  harbours.  They  got  cooped  up 
in  casks  or  wine  barraques,  with  holes  for  breathing 
places  ;  others  contrived  to  get  surreptitiously  into  the 
hold,  and  stowed  themselves  away  among  the  goods. 
When  it  became  known  to  the  Government  that  many 
Protestants  were  escaping  in  this  w^ay,  provision  was 
made  to  meet  the  case ;  and  a  Koyal  Order  was  issued 
that,  before  any  ship  was  allowed  to  set  sail  for  a 
foreign  port,  the  hold  should  be  fumigated  with  deadly 
gas,  so  that  any  hidden  Huguenot  who  could  not  other- 
wise be  detected,  might  thus  be  suffocated !  * 

In  the  meantime,  however,  numerous  efforts  were 
being  made  to  convert  the  Huguenots.  The  King,  his 
ministers,  the  dragoons,  the  bisho]DS,  and  clergy  used 
all  due  diligence.  '^  Everybody  is  now  missionary," 
said  the  fascinating  Madame  de  Sevigne;  "  each  has  his 
mission — above  all  the  magistrates  and  governors  of 
provinces,  helped  hy  the  dragoons.  It  is  the  grandest 
and  finest  thing  that  has  ever  been  imagined  and 
executed."  f 

• 

The  conversions  effected  by  the  dragoons  were  much 
more  sudden  than  those  effected  by  the  priests.  Some- 
times a  hundred  or  more  persons  Avere  converted  by  a 
single  troop  within  an  hour.  In  this  way  Murillac 
converted  thousands  of  persons  in  a  week.     The  regi- 

*  We  refer  to  *'  The  Huguenots  :  their  Settlements,  Churehe?,  and 
Industries  in  England  and  Ireland,"  where  a  great  many  incidents 
are  given  relative  to  the  escape  of  refugees  by  land  and  sea,  which 
need  not  here  be  repeated. 

t  Letter  to  the  President  de  Moulceau,  November  24th,  1685. 

3 


20  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

ment   of    Aslifeld   conyerted   tlie   whole   province    of 
Poltou  in  a  month. 

De  I^oailles  was  very  successful  in  his  conversions. 
He  converted  Nismes  in  twenty-four  hours ;  the  day 
after  he  converted  Montpellier ;  and  he  promised  in  a  few 
weeks  to  deliver  all  Lower  Languedoc  from  the  leprosy 
of  heresy.  In  one  of  his  dispatches  soon  after  the  Revo- 
cation, he  boasted  that  he  had  converted  350  nobility 
and  gentry,  54  ministers,  and  25,000  individuals  of 
various  classes. 

The  quickness  of  the  conversions  effected  by  the 
dragoons  is  easily  to  be  accounted  for.  The  principal 
cause  was  the  free  quartering  of  soldiers  in  the  houses 
of  the  Protestants.  The  soldiers  knew  what  was  the 
object  for  which  they  were  thus  quartered.  They  lived 
freely  in  all  ways.  They  drank,  swore,  shouted,  beat 
the  heretics,  insidtcd  their  women,  and  subjected  them 
to  every  imaginable  outrage  and  insult. 

One  of  their  methods  of  making  converts  was 
borrowed  from  the  persecutions  of  the  Yaudois.  It  con- 
sisted in  forcing  the  feet  of  the  intended  converts  into 
boots  full  of  boiling  grease,  or  they  would  hang  them  up 
by  the  feet,  sometimes  forgetting  to  cut  them  down 
until  they  were  dead.  They  would  also  force  them  to 
drink  water  perpetually,  or  make  them  sit  under  a  slow 
dripping  upon  their  heads  until  they  died  of  madness. 
Sometimes  they  placed  burning  coals  in  their  hands,  or 
used  an  instrument  of  torture  resembling  that  known 
in  Scotland  as  the  thumbscrews.*  Many  of  their 
attempts  at  conversion  were  accompanied  by  details 
too  hideous  to  be  recorded. 

*  Thumbscrews  were  used  in  the  reign  of  James  11.  Louis  and 
James  borrowed  from  each  other  the  means  of  converting  heretics  ; 
but  whether  the  origin  of  the  thumbscrew  be  French  or  Scotch  is  not 
known. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  21 

Of  those  wlio  would  not  be  converted,  tlie  prisons 
were  kept  full.  They  were  kept  there  without  the  usual 
allowance  of  straw,  and  almost  without  food.  In  winter 
they  had  no  fire,  and  at  night  no  lamp.  Though  ill,  they 
had  no  doctors.  Besides  the  gaoler,  their  only  yisitors 
were  priests  and  monks,  entreating  them  to  make 
abjuration.  Of  course  many  died  in  prison — feeble 
women,  and  aged  and  infirm  men.  In  the  society  of 
obscene  criminals,  with  whom  many  were  imprisoned, 
they  prayed  for  speedy  deliverance  by  death,  and  death 
often  came  to  their  help. 

More  agreeable,  but  still  more  insulting,  methods  of 
conversion  were  also  attempted.  Louis  tried  to  bribe 
the  pastors  by  offering  them  an  increase  of  annual 
pay  beyond  their  former  stipends.  If  there  were  a  Pro- 
testant judge  or  advocate,  Louvois  at  once  endeavoured 
to  bribe  him  over.  For  instance,  there  was  a  heretical 
syndic  of  Strasburg,  to  whom  Louvois  wrote,  "Will 
you  be  converted?  I  will  give  you  6,000  livres  of 
pension. — Will  you  not  ?     I  will  dismiss  you.'' 

Of  course  many  of  the  efforts  made  to  convert  the 
Huguenots  proved  successful.  The  orders  of  the  Prime 
Minister,  the  free  quarters  afforded  to  the  dragoons, 
the  preachings  and  threatenings  of  the  clergy,  all 
contributed  to  terrify  the  Protestants.  The  fear  of 
being  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life — the  threat  of  losing 
the  whole  of  one's  goods  and  property — the  alarm 
of  seeing  one's  household  broken  up,  the  children 
seized  by  the  priests  and  sent  to  the  nearest  monkery 
or  nunnery  for  maintenance  and  education — all  these 
considerations  doubtless  had  their  effect  in  increasing 
the  number  of  conversions. 

Persecution  is  not  easy  to  bear.  To  have  all  the 
public  powers  and  authorities  employed  against  one's 


22  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

life,  interests,  and  faith,  is  wliat  few  can  persistently 
oppose.  And  torture,  whether  it  be  slow  or  sudden,  is 
what  many  persons,  by  reason  of  their  physical  capa- 
city, have  not  the  power  to  resist.  Even  the  slow 
torment  of  dragoons  quartered  in  the  houses  of  the 
heretics — their  noise  and  shoutings,  their  drinking 
and  roistering,  the  insults  and  outrages  they  were 
allowed  to  practise — was  sufficient  to  compel  many 
at  once  to  declare  themselves  to  be  converted. 

Indeed,  pain  is,  of  all  things,  one  of  the  most  terrible 
of  converters.  One  of  the  prisoners  condemned  to  the 
galleys,  when  he  saw  the  tortures  which  the  victims 
about  him  had  to  endure  by  night  and  by  day,  said  that 
sufferings  such  as  these  were  *'  enough  to  make  one 
conform  to  Buddhism  or  Mahommedanism  as  well  as 
to  Popery '' ;  and  doubtless  it  was  force  and  suffering 
which  converted  the  Huguenots,  far  more  than  love  of 
the  King  or  love  of  the  Pope. 

By  all  these  means — forcible,  threatening,  insulting, 
and  bribing — employed  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Huguenots,  the  Catholics  boasted  that  in  the  space  of 
three  months  they  had  received  an  accession  of  five 
hundred  thousand  new  converts  to  the  Church  of  Pome. 

But  the  "new  converts  '^  did  not  gain  much  by  their 
change.  They^  were  forced  to  attend  mass,  but  re- 
mained susj)ected.  Even  the  dragoons  who  converted 
them,  called  them  dastards  and  deniers  of  their  faith. 
They  tried,  if  they  could,  to  avoid  confession,  but  con- 
fess they  must.  There  was  the  fine,  confiscation  of 
goods,  and  imprisonment  at  the  priest's  back. 

Places  were  set  apart  for  them  in  the  churches, 
where  they  were  penned  up  like  lepers.  A  person  was 
stationed  at  the  door  with  a  roll  of  their  names,  to 
which  they  were  obliged  to  answer.     During  the  ser- 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  23 

vice,  tlie  most  prominent  among  tliem  were  made  to 
carry  tlie  lights,  tlie  holy  water,  the  incense,  and  such 
things,  which  to  Huguenots  were  an  abomination. 
They  were  also  required  to  partake  of  the  Host,  which 
Protestants  regarded  as  an  awful  mockery  of  the  glorious 
Godhead. 

The  Due  de  Saint-Simon,  in  his  memoirs,  after 
referring  to  the  unmanly  cruelties  practised  by  Louis 
XIY.  on  the  Huguenots,  **  without  the  slightest  pre- 
text or  necessity,''  characterizes  this  forced  partici- 
pation in  the  Eucharist  as  sacrilegious  and  blasphemous 
folly,  notwithstanding  that  nearly  all  the  bishops  lent 
themselves  to  the  practice.  ''  From  simulated  abjura- 
tion," he  says,  '^  they  [the  Huguenots]  are  dragged  to 
endorse  what  they  do  not  belieye  in,  and  to  receive 
the  divine  body  of  the  Saint  of  saints  whilst  remaining 
persuaded  that  they  are  only  eating  bread  which  they 
ought  to  abhor.  Such  is  the  general  abomination  born 
of  flattery  and  cruelty.  From  torture  to  abjuration, 
and  from  that  to  the  communion,  there  were  only 
twenty-four  hours'  distance ;  and  the  executioners  were 
the  conductors  of  the  converts,  and  their  witnesses. 
Those  who  in  the  end  appeared  to  have  become  recon- 
ciled, when  more  at  leisure  did  not  fail,  by  their  flight 
or  their  behaviour,  to  contradict  their  pretended  con- 
version."* 

Indeed,  many  of  the  new  converts,  finding  life  in 
France  to  be  all  but  intolerable,  determined  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  Huguenots  who  had  already  fled, 
and  took  the  first  opportunity  of  disposing  of  their  goods 
and  leaving  the  country.  One  of  the  first  things  they 
did  on  reaching  a  foreign  soil,  was  to  attend  a  congre- 

*  "Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of  Saint- Simon,"  Bayle  St.  John's  Trans- 
lation, iii.  259. 


24  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

gation  of  their  brethren,  and  make  "  reconnaisances," 
or  acknowledgment  of  tlieir  repentance  for  liaving 
attended  mass  and  pretended  to  be  converted  to  tbe 
Roman  Catholic  Cburcb.*  At  one  of  the  sittings 
of  the  Tbreadneedle  Street  Huguenot  Cburch.  in 
London,  held  in  May,  1687 — two  j^ears  after  the  Ee- 
vocation — not  fewer  than  497  members  were  again 
received  into  the  Cburcb  wbicb,  by  force,  they  had 
pretended  to  abandon. 

Not  many  pastors  abjured.  A  few  who  yielded  in 
the  first  instance  through  terror  and  stupor,  almost 
invariably  returned  to  their  ancient  faith.  They  were 
ofiered  considerable  pensions  if  they  would  conform 
and  become  Catholics.  The  King  promised  to  augment 
their  income  by  one-third,  and  if  they  became  advo- 
cates or  doctors  in  law,  to  dispense  with  their  three 
years'  study,  and  with  the  right  of  diploma. 

At  length,  most  of  the  pastors  had  left  the  country. 
About  seven  hundred  had  gone  .into  Switzerland,  Hol- 
land, Prussia,  England,  and  elsewhere.  A  few  remained 
going  about  to  meetings  of  the  peasantrj'',  at  the  daily 
risk  of  death ;  for  every  pastor  taken  was  hung.  A 
reward  of  5,500  livres  was  promised  to  whoever  should 
take  a  pastor,  or  cause  him  to  be  taken.  The  punish- 
ment of  death  was  also  pronounced  against  all  persons 
who  should  be  discovered  attending  such  meetings. 

Nevertheless,  meetings  of  the  Protestants  continued 
to  be  held,  with  pastors  or  without.  They  were,  for  the 
most  part,  held  at  night,  amidst  the  ruins  of  their 
pulled-down  temples.  But  this  exposed  them  to  great 
danger,  for  spies  were  on  the  alert  to  inform  upon  them 
and  have  them  apprehended. 

*  See  "The  Huguenots;  their  Settlements,  &c.,  in  England  and 
Ireland,"  chap.  xvi. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  25 

At  length  tliey  selected  more  sheltered  places  in  re- 
mote quarters,  where  they  met  for  prayer  and  praise, 
often  resorting  thither  from  great  distances.  They 
were,  however,  often  surprised,  cut  to  pieces  by  the 
dragoons,  who  hung  part  of  the  prisoners  on  the 
neighbouring  trees,  and  took  the  others  to  prison,  from 
whence  they  were  sent  to  the  galleys,  or  hung  on  the 
nearest  pubKc  gibbet. 

Fulcran  Key  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the 
early  victims.  He  was  a  native  of  JSTismes,  twenty- 
four  years  old.  He  had  just  completed  his  theological 
studies ;  but  there  were  neither  synods  to  receive  him 
to  pastoral  ordination,  nor  temples  for  him  to  preach 
in.  The  only  reward  he  could  earn  by  proceeding  on 
his  mission  was  death,  yet  he  determined  to  preach. 
The  first  assemblies  he  joined  were  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Nismes,  where  his  addresses  were  interrupted 
by  assaults  of  the  dragoons.  The  dangers  to  his 
co-religionaries  were  too  great  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  this  populous  town ;  and  he  next  went  to  Castres 
and  the  Yaunage ;  after  which  he  accepted  an  in- 
vitation to  proceed  into  the  less  populous  districts  of 
the  Cevennes. 

He  felt  the  presentiment  of  death  upon  him  in  ac- 
cepting the  invitation ;  but  he  went,  leaving  behind 
him  a  letter  to  his  father,  saying  that  he  was  willing,  if 
necessary,  to  give  his  life  for  the  cause  of  truth.  "  Oh  ! 
what  happiness  it  would  give  me,"  he  said,  "  if  I  might 
be  found  amongst  the  number  of  those  whom  the  Lord 
has  reserved  to  announce  his  praise  and  to  die  for  his 
cause !  " 

His  apostolate  was  short  but  glorious.  He  went  from 
village  to  village  in  the  Cevennes,  collected  the  old 
worshippers  together,   praj^ed  and  preached  to  them. 


26  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

encouraging  all  to  suffer  in  the  name  of  Christ.  He 
remained  at  this  work  for  about  six  weeks,  when  a  spy 
who  accompanied  him — one  whom  he  had  regarded 
as  sincere  a  Huguenot  as  himself — informed  against 
him  for  the  royal  reward,  and  delivered  him  over  to 
the  dragoons. 

Rey  was  at  first  thrown  into  prison  at  Anduze,  when, 
after  a  brief  examination  by  the  local  judge,  he  was 
entrvisted  to  thirty  soldiers,  to  be  conveyed  to  Alais. 
There  he  was  subjected  to  further  examination,  avow- 
ing that  he  had  preached  wherever  he  had  found  faith- 
ful people  ready  to  hear  him.  At  Nismcs,  he  was  told 
that  he  had  broken  the  law,  in  preaching  contrary  to 
the  King's  will.  "I  obey  the  law  of  the  King  of 
kings,''  he  replied;  "it  is  right  that  I  should  obey 
God  rather  than  man.  Do  with  me  what  3'ou  will  ;  I 
am  ready  to  die." 

The  priests,  the  judges,  and  other  persons  of  in- 
fluence endeavoured  to  induce  him  to  change  his 
opinions.  Promises  of  great  faA^ours  were  offered  him 
if  he  would  abjure  ;  and  when  the  intendant  Baville 
informed  him  of  the  frightful  death  before  him  if  he 
refused,  he  replied,  "  My  life  is  not  of  value  to  me,  pro- 
vided I  gain  Christ."  He  remained  firm.  He  was 
ordered  to  be  put  to  the  torture.  He  was  still  un- 
shaken. Then  he  was  delivered  over  to  the  executioner. 
*'  I  am  treated,"  he  said,  "  more  mildly  than  my 
Saviour." 

On  his  way  to  the  place  of  execution,  two  monks 
walked  by  his  side  to  induce  him  to  relent,  and 
to  help  him  to  die.  "Let  me  alone,"  he  said, 
"  you  annoy  me  with  your  consolations."  On  coming 
in  sight  of  the  gallows  at  Beaucaire,  he  cried, 
"  Courage,    courage !    the  end    of    my  journey  is    at 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  27 

hand.  I  see  before  me  tlie  ladder  wliicli  leads  to 
heaven." 

The  monks  wished  to  mount  the  ladder  with  him. 
"Return,"  said  he,  *'I  have  no  need  of  your  help.  I 
have  assistance  enough  from  God  to  take  the  last  step 
of  my  journey."  When  he  reached  the  upper  platform, 
he  was  about,  before  dying,  to  make  public  his  con- 
fession of  faith.  But  the  authorities  had  arranged 
beforehand  that  this  should  be  prevented.  When  he 
opened  his  mouth,  a  roll  of  military  drums  muffled  his 
voice.  His  radiant  look  and  gestures  spoke  for  him. 
A  few  minutes  more,  and  he  was  dead ;  and  when  the 
paleness  of  death  spread  over  his  face,  it  still  bore  the 
reflex  of  joy  and  peace  in  which  he  had  expired. 
"  There  is  a  veritable  martyr,"  said  many  even  of  the 
Catholics  who  were  witnesses  of  his  death. 

It  was  thought  that  the  public  hanging  of  a  pastor 
would  put  a  stop  to  all  further  ministrations  among  the 
Huguenots.  But  the  sight  of  the  bodies  of  their 
brethren  hung  on  the  nearest  trees,  and  the  heads  of 
their  pastors  rolling  on  the  scafibld,  did  not  deter  them 
from  continuing  to  hold  religious  meetings  in  solitary 
places,  more  especially  in  Languedoc,  Yiverais,  and  the 
provinces  in  the  south-east  of  France. 

Between  the  year  1686,  when  Tulcran  Rey  was 
hanged  at  Beaucaire,  and  the  year  1698,  when  Claude 
Brousson  was  hanged  at  Montpellier,  not  fewer  than 
seventeen  pastors  were  publicly  executed ;  namely, 
three  at  ]^ismes,  two  at  St.  Hippolyte  and  Marsillargues 
in  the  Cevennes,  and  twelve  on  the  Peyrou  at  Mont- 
pellier— the  public  place  on  which  Protestant 
Christians  in  the  South  of  France  were  then  princi- 
pally executed. 

There   has   been   some  discussion   lately   as  to  the 


28  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

massacre  of  the  Huguenots  about  a  century  before  tbis 
period.  It  bas  been  beld  tbat  tbe  St.  Eartbolomew 
Massacre  was  only  a  poHtical  squabble,  begun  by  tbe 
Huguenots,  in  wbicb  tbey  got  tbe  worst  of  it.  Tbe 
number  of  persons  killed  on  tbe  occasion  bas  been 
reduced  to  a  very  small  number.  It  bas  been  doubted 
wbetber  tbe  Pope  bad  anything  to  do  witb  tbe  medal 
struck  at  Rome,  bearing  tbe  motto  Ugonottorum  Stragcs 
('*  Massacre  of  tbe  Huguenots*'),  witb  tbe  Pope's  bead 
on  one  side,  and  an  angel  on  tbe  otber  j)ursuiug  and 
slaying  a  band  of  flying  heretics. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  the  per- 
secutions which  preceded  and  followed  the  PcYocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  They  were  continued  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  and  had  the  effect  of  driving  from 
France  about  a  million  of  the  best,  most  vigorous,  and 
industrious  of  Frenchmen.  In  the  single  pro^-ince  of 
Languedoc,  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  persons 
(according  to  Boulainvillers)  were  destroyed  by  prema- 
ture death,  one-tenth  of  whom  perished  by  fire,  strangu- 
lation, or  the  wheel. 

It  could  not  be  said  that  Louis  XIV.  and  the  priests 
were  destroying  France  and  tearing  its  flesh,  and  that 
Frenchmen  did  not  know  it.  The  proclamations,  edicts 
and  laws  published  against  the  Huguenots  were  known 
to  all  Frenchmen.  Benoit*  gives  a  list  of  three 
hundred  and  thirty-three  issued  by  Louis  XIY.  during 
the  ten  years  subsequent  to  the  Bevocation,  and  they 
were  continued,  as  we  shall  find,  during  the  succeeding 
reign. 

"  We  have,"  saj^s  M.  Charles  Coquerel,  "  a  horror  of 

*  "  Histoire  de  I'Edit  de  Nantes,"  par  Elie  Benoit. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOCATION.  29 

St.  Bartholomew !  Will  foreigners  believe  it,  ttiat 
France  observed  a  code  of  laws  framed  in  the  same 
infernal  spirit,  which  maintained  a  perpetual  St.  Bar- 
tholomeich  day  in  this  country  for  ahout  sixty  years  ! 
If  they  cannot  call  us  the  most  barbarous  of  people, 
their  judgment  will  be  well  founded  in  pronouncing  us 
the  most  inconsistent."* 

M.  De  Felice,  however,  will  not  believe  that  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  JS'antes  was  popular  in 
France.  He  takes  a  much  more  patriotic  view  of  the 
French  peoj^le.  He  cannot  believe  them  to  have  been 
wilfully  guilty  of  the  barbarities  which  the  French 
Government  committed  upon  the  Huguenots.  It  was 
the  King,  the  priests,  and  the  courtiers  only  !  But 
he  forgets  that  these  upper  barbarians  were  supported 
by  the  soldiers  and  the  people  everywhere.  He  adds, 
however,  that  if  the  Eevocation  icere  popular,  "it 
would  be  the  most  overwhelming  accusation  against 
the  Church  of  Eome,  that  it  had  thus  educated  and 
fashioned  France."  f  There  is,  however,  no  doubt 
whatever  that  the  Jesuits,  during  the  long  period  that 
they  had  the  exclusive  education  of  the  country  in 
their  hands,  did  thus  fashion  France ;  for,  in  1793, 
the  people  educated  by  them  treated  King,  Jesuits, 
priests,  and  aristocracy,  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
that  they  had  treated  the  Huguenots  about  a  century 
before. 


*  ''Histoire  des  Eglises  du  DCsert,"  par  XUharles  Coquerel,  i.  498. 
t  De  Felice's  "History  of  the  Protes'ants  of  France,"  book  iii. 
sect.  17. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CLAUDE    BROUSSON,  THE    HUGUENOT   ADVOCATE. 

TO  give  an  account  in  detail  of  the  varieties  of  cruelty 
inflicted  on  the  Huguenots,  and  of  the  agonies  to 
which  they  were  subjected  for  many  years  before  and 
after  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Revocation,  would  occu]3y 
too  much  space,  besides  being  tedious  through  the  mere 
repetition  of  like  horrors.  But  in  order  to  condense 
such  an  account,  we  think  it  will  be  more  interesting  if 
we  endeavour  to  give  a  brief  history  of  the  state  of 
France  at  that  time,  in  connection  with  the  biography 
of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  Huguenots  of  his  period, 
both  in  his  life,  his  piety,  his  trials,  and  his  endurance 
— that  of  Claude  Brousson,  the  advocate,  the  pastor, 
and  the  martyr  of  Languedoc. 

Claude  Brousson  was  born  at  Nismes  in  1647.  He 
was  designed  by  his  parents  for  the  profession  of  the 
law,  and  prosecuted  his  studies  at  the  college  of  his 
native  town,  where  he  graduated  as  Doctor  of  Laws. 

He  commenced  his  professional  career  about  the  time 
when  Louis  XIY.  began  to  issue  his  oppressive  edicts 
against  the  Huguenots.  Protestant  advocates  were  not 
yet  forbidden  to  practise,  but  they  already  laboured  under 
many  disabilities.  He  continued,  however,  for  some 
ti^me  to  exercise  his  profession,  with  much  ability,  at 


CLAUDE  B ROUS  SON.  31 

Castres,  Castelnaudry,  and  Toulouse.  He  ^yas  fre- 
quently employed  in  defending  Protestant  pastors, 
and  in  contesting  the  measures  for  suppressing  their 
congregations  and  levelling  their  churches  under  exist- 
ing edicts,  some  time  before  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  had  been  finally  resolved  upon. 

Thus,  in  1682,  he  was  engaged  in  disputing  the  pro- 
cess instituted  against  the  ministers  and  elders  of  the 
church  at  Nismes,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  an  order 
for  the  demolition  of  the  remaining  Protestant  temjile 
of  that  city.*  The  pretext  for  suppressing  this  church 
was,  that  a  servant  girl  from  the  country,  being  a 
Catholic,  had  attended  worship  and  received  the  sacra- 
ment from  the  hands  of  M.  Peyrol,  one  of  the 
ministers. 

Brousson  defended  the  case,  observing,  at  the  con- 
clusion of  his  speech,  that  the  number  of  Protestants 
was  A^ery  great  at  Nismes  ;  that  the  ministers  could 
not  be  personally  acquainted  with  all  the  people,  and 
especially  with  occasional  visitors  and  strangers ;  that 
the  ministers  were  quite  unacquainted  with  the  girl,  or 
that  she  professed  the  Poman  Catholic  religion  :  ^'  facts 
which  rendered  it  probable  that  she  was  sent  to  the 
temple  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  an  occasion  for 
the  prosecution.''  Sentence  was  for  the  present 
suspended. 

Another  process  was  instituted  during  the  same  year 

*  John  Locke  passed  through  Nismes  about  this  time.  "The 
Protestants  at  Nismes,"  he  said,  "have  now  but  one  temple,  the 
other  being  pulled  down  by  the  King's  order  about  four  years  since. 
The  Protestants  had  built  themselves  an  hospital  for  the  sick,  but 
that  is  taken  from  them ;  a  chamber  in  it  is  left  for  the  sick,  but 
never  used,  because  the  priests  trouble  them  when  there.  Notwith- 
standing these  discouragements  [this  was  in  1676,  before  the  Revo- 
cation], I  do  not  find  many  go  over;  one  of  them  told  me,  when  I 
asked  them  the  question,  that  the  Papists  did  nothing  but  by  force  ci 
by  money." — King's  Life  of  Locke,  i.  100. 


32  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

for  the  suppression  of  tlie  Protestant  cliurcli  at  Uzes, 
and  another  for  the  demolition  of  the  large  Protestant 
temple  at  Montpellier.  The  pretext  for  destroying  the 
latter  was  of  a  singular  character. 

A  Protestant  pastor,  M.  Paulet,  had  been  bribed 
into  embracing  the  Koman  Catholic  religion,  in 
reward  for  which  he  was  appointed  counsellor  to  the 
Presidial  Court  of  Montpellier.  But  his  wife  and  one 
of  his  daughters  refused  to  apostatize  with  him.  The 
daughter,  though  onl}?-  between  ten  and  eleven  years 
old,  was  sent  to  a  convent  at  Teirargues,  where,  after 
enduring  considerable  persecution,  she  persisted  in  her 
steadfastness,  and  was  released  after  a  twelvemonth's 
confinement.  Five  years  later  she  was  again  seized 
and  sent  to  another  convent ;  but,  continuing  immov- 
able against  the  entreaties  and  threats  of  the  abbess 
and  confessor,  she  was  again  set  at  liberty. 

An  apostate  priest,  however,  who  had  many  years 
before  renounced  the  Protestant  faith,  and  become 
director  and  confessor  of  the  nuns  at  Teirargues,  forged 
two  documents  ;  the  one  to  show  that  while  at  the 
convent,  Mdlle.  Paulet  had  consented  to  embrace  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  the  other  containing  her  formal 
abjuration.  It  was  alleged  that  her  abjuration  had 
been  signified  to  Isaac  Dubourdieu,  of  Montpellier,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  pastors  of  the  French  Church ; 
but  that,  nevertheless,  he  had  admitted  her  to  the 
sacrament.  This,  if  true,  was  contrary  to  law;  upon 
which  the  Catholic  clergy  laid  information  against  the 
pastor  and  the  young  lady  before  the  Parliament  of 
Toulouse,  when  they  obtained  sentence  of  imprisonment 
against  the  former,  and  the  penance  of  amende  honor- 
able against  the  latter. 

The  demolition  of  temples  was  the  usual  consequenco 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  33 

of  conyictions  like  these.  The  Due  de  Xoailles,  lieu- 
tenant-general of  the  province,  entered  the  city  on 
the  16th  of  October,  1682,  accompanied  by  a  strong 
military  force  ;  and  at  a  sitting  of  the  Assembly  of  the 
States  which  shortly  followed,  the  question  of  demolish- 
ing the  Protestant  temple  at  Montpellier  was  brought 
under  consideration.  Four  of  the  Protestant  pastors 
and  several  of  the  elders  had  before  waited  upon  De 
Noailles  to  claim  a  respite  until  they  should  have 
submitted  their  cause  to  the  King  in  Council. 

The  request  having  been  refused,  one  of  the  deputa- 
tion protested  against  the  illegality  of  the  proceedings, 
and  had  the  temerity  to  ask  his  excellency  whether  he 
was  aware  that  there  were  eighteen  hundred  thousand 
Protestant  families  in  France  ?  Upon  which  the  Duke, 
turning  to  the  officer  of  his  guard,  said,  "  Whilst  we 
wait  to  see  what  will  become  of  these  eighteen  hundred 
thousand  Protestant  families,  will  you  please  to  conduct 
these  gentlemen  to  the  citadel  ?  ''* 

The  great  temple  of  Montpellier  was  destroyed  im- 
mediately on  receipt  of  the  King's  royal  mandate.  It 
required  the  destruction  of  the  place  within  twenty- four 
hours ;  "  but  you  will  give  me  pleasure,"  added  the 
King,  in  a  letter  to  De  IN^oailles,  ^' if  you  accomplish  it 
in  two.'^ 

It  was,  perhaps,  scarcely  necessary,  after  the  temple 
had  been  destroyed,  to  make  any  effort  to  justify  these 
high-handed  proceedings.  But  Mdlle.  Paulet,  on 
whose  pretended  conversion  to  Catholicism  the  pro- 
ceedings had  been  instituted,  was  now  requested  to 
admit  the  authenticity  of  the  documents.      She  was  still 

*  When  released  from  prison,  Gaultier  escaped  to  Berlin  and 
became  minister  of  a  large  Protestant  congregation  there.  Isaac 
Dubourdieu  escaped  to  England,  and  was  appointed  one  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Savoy  Church  in  London. 


34  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

imprisoned  in  Toulouse  ;  and  although,  entreated  and 
threatened  by  turns  to  admit  their  truth,  she  steadfastly 
denied  their  genuineness,  and  asking  for  a  pen,  she  wrote 
under  each  of  them,  "  I  affirm  that  the  above  signature 
was  not  written  by  my  hand. — Isabeau  de  Paulet." 

Of  course  the  documents  were  forged ;  but  they  had 
answered  their  purpose.  The  Protestant  temple  of 
Montpellier  lay  in  ruins,  and  Isabeau  de  Paulet  was  re- 
committed to  prison.  On  hearing  of  this  incident, 
Brousson  remarked,  "This  is  what  is  called  instituting 
a  process  against  persons  after  they  have  been  con- 
demned " — a  sort  of  "  Jedwood  justice.'^ 

The  repetition  of  these  cases  of  persecution — the  de- 
molition of  their  churches,  and  the  suppression  of  their 
worship — led  the  Protestants  of  the  Cevennes,  Yiverais, 
and  Dauphiny  to  combine  for  the  purpose  of  endeavour- 
ing to  stem  the  torrent  of  injustice.  With  this  object, 
a  meeting  of  twenty-eight  deputies  took  place  in  the 
house  of  Brousson,  at  Toulouse,  in  the  month  of  May, 
1683.  As  the  Assembly  of  the  States  were  about  to 
take  steps  to  demolish  the  Protestant  temple  at  Mon- 
tauban  and  other  towns  in  the  south,  and  as  Brousson 
was  the  well-known  advocate  of  the  persecuted,  the 
deputies  were  able  to  meet  at  his  house  to  conduct  their 
deliberations,  without  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the 
priests  and  the  vigilance  of  the  police. 

What  the  meeting  of  Protestant  deputies  recom- 
mended to  their  brethren  was  embodied  in  a  measure, 
which  was  afterwards  known  as  "The  Project."  The 
chief  objects  of  the  project  were  to  exhort  the  Protestant 
people  to  sincere  conversion,  and  the  exhibition  of  the 
good  life  which  such  conversion  implies ;  constant 
prayer  to  the  Holy  Spirit  to  enable  them  to  remain 
steadfast  in  their  profession  and  in  the  reading  and  medi- 


CLAUDE  BROUSSOA-*.  35 

tation  of  the  Scriptures  ;  encouragements  to  tliem  to  liold 
together  as  congregations  for  the  purpose  of  united 
worship  ;  "  submitting  themselves  unto  the  common  in- 
structions and  to  the  yoke  of  Christ,  in  all  places  where- 
soever He  shall  have  established  the  true  discipline, 
although  the  edicts  of  earthly  magistrates  be  contrary 
thereto." 

At  the  same  time,  Brousson  drew  up  a  petition  to  the 
Sovereign,  humbly  requesting  him  to  grant  permission 
to  the  Huguenots  to  worship  God  in  peace  after  their 
consciences,  copies  of  which  were  sent  to  Louvois  and 
the  other  ministers  of  State.  On  this  and  other  peti- 
tions, Bro;sson  observes,  "Surely  all  the  world  and 
posterity  will  be  surprised,  that  so  many  respectful 
petitions,  so  many  complaints  of  injuries,  and  so  manv 
solid  reasons  urged  for  their  removal,  produced  no 
good  result  whatever  in  favour  of  the  Protestants.'^ 

The  members  of  the  churches  which  had  been  inter- 
dicted, and  whose  temj)les  had  been  demolished,  were 
accordingly  invited  to  assemble  in  private,  in  the  neigh- 
bouring fields  or  woods — -not  in  public  places,  nor 
around  the  ruins  of  their  ancient  temples — for  the  pur- 
pose of  worshipping  God,  exciting  each  other  to  i^iety 
by  prayer  and  singing,  receiving  instruction,  and  cele- 
brating the  Lord's  Supper. 

Various  meetings  were  accordingly  held,  in  the 
following  month  of  July,  in  the  Cevennes  and  Yiverais. 
At  St.  Hypolite,  where  the  temple  of  the  Protestants  had 
been  destroj-ed,  about  four  thousand  persons  met  in  a 
field  near  the  town,  when  the  minister  preached  to  them 
from  the  text — "Pender  unto  Caesar  the  things  which 
are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's." 
The  meeting  was  conducted  with  the  utmost  solemnity  ; 
and  a  Catholic  ]3riest  who  was  -oresent,  on   giving  in- 

4 


36  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

formation  to  the  Bisliop  of  Nismes  of  tlie  transaction, 
admitted  tliat  the  preacher  had  advanced  nothing  but 
what  the  bishop  himself  might  have  spoken. 

The  dragoons  were  at  once  sent  to  St.  Hypolite  to 
put  an  end  to  these  meetings,  and  to  "convert"  the 
Protestants.  The  town  was  almost  wholl}^  Protestant. 
The  troops  were  quartered  in  numbers  in  every  house  ; 
and  the  people  soon  became  "  new  converts.'* 

The  losses  sustained  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Cevennes  from  this  forced  quartering  of  the  troops 
upon  them — and  Anduze,  Sauve,  St.  Germain,  Yigan, 
and  Ganges  were  as  full  of  them  as  St.  Hypolite — may 
be  inferred  from  the  items  charged  upon  the  inhabit- 
ants of  St.  Hypolite  alone  *  : — 

To  the  regiment  of  Montpezat,  for  a  billet  for 

sixty-five  days 50,000    livres. 

To    the  three  companies  of  Eed  Dragoons, 

for  ninety-five  days  ....  30,000  „ 
To  three  companies  of  Villeneuve's  Dragoons, 

for  thirty  days  .....  6,000  „ 
To  three  companies  of  the  Blue  Dragoons  of 

Languedoc,  for  three  months  and  nine  days  37,000  ,, 
To    a   company   of   Cravates    (troopers)    for 

fourteen  days  ......         1,400         „ 

To  the  transport  of  three  hundred  and  nine 

companies  of  cavalrj' and  infantry  .  .  10,000  „ 
To  provisions  for  the  troops  ....  60,000  „ 
To  damage  sustained  by  the  destruction  done 

by  the  soldiers,  of  furniture,  and  losses 

by  the  seizure  of  property,  &c.         .         .       50,000         „ 

Total     244,400 


Meetings  of  the  persecuted  were  also  held,  under  the 
terms  of  "  The  Project, '*  in  Viverais  and  Dauphiny. 
These  meetings  having  been  repeated  for  several  weeks, 
the  priests  of  the  respective  districts  called  upon  their 
bishops  for  help  to  put  down  this  heretical  display.  The 

*  Claude  Brousson,  "  Apologie  du  Projet  des  3leform6." 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON,  37 

Bishop  of  Valence  (Daniel  de  Cosmac)  accordingly 
informed  them  that  he  had  taken  the  necessary  steps, 
and  that  he  had  been  apprised  that  twenty  thousand 
soldiers  were  now  on  their  march  to  the  South  to  put 
down  the  Protestant  movement. 

On  their  arrival,  the  troops  were  scattered  over  the 
country,  to  watch  and  suppress  any  meetings  that 
might  be  held.  The  first  took  place  on  the  8th  of 
August,  at  Chateaudouble,  a  manufacturing  village  in 
Drome.  The  assembly  was  surprised  by  a  troop  of 
dragoons  ;  but  most  of  the  congregation  contrived  to 
escape.  Those  who  were  taken  were  hung  upon  the 
nearest  trees. 

Another  meeting  was  held  about  a  fortnight  later  at 
Bezaudun,  which  was  attended  by  many  persons  from 
Bourdeaux,  a  village  about  half  a  league  distant. 
While  the  meeting  was  at  prayer,  intelligence  was 
brought  that  the  dragoons  had  entered  Bourdeaux,  and 
that  it  was  a  scene  of  general  pillage.  The  Bourdeaux 
villagers  at  once  set  out  for  the  protection  of  their 
families.  The  troopers  met  them,  and  suddenly  fell 
upon  them.  A  few  of  the  villagers  were  armed,  but 
the  principal  part  defended  themselves  with  stones.  Of 
course  they  were  overpowered ;  many  were  killed  by 
the  sword,  and  those  taken  prisoners  were  immediately 
hanged. 

A  few,  who  took  to  flight,  sheltered  themselves  in  a 
barn,  where  the  soldiers  found  them,  set  fire  to  the 
place,  and  murdered  them  as  they  endeavoured  to 
escape  from  the  flames.  One  young  man  was  taken 
prisoner,  David  Chamier,*    son    of  an   advocate,    and 

*  The  grandfather  of  this  Chamier  drew  up  for  Henry  IV  the 
celebrated  Edict  of  Nantes.  The  greater  number  of  the  Chamiers 
Jetti^  ranee.  Several  were  ministers  in  London  and  Maryland,  U.S. 
baptam  thamier  13  descended  from  the  family. 


38  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

related  to  some  of  tlie  most  eminent  Protestants  in 
France.  He  was  taken  to  the  neighbouring  town  of 
Montelimar,  and,  after  a  summary  trial,  lie  was  con- 
demned to  be  broken  to  death  upon  the  wheel.  The 
sentence  was  executed  before  his  father's  door ;  but  the 
young  man  bore  his  frightful  tortures  with  astonishing 
courage. 

The  contumacious  attitude  of  the  Protestants  after  so 
many  reports  had  reached  Louis  XIY.  of  their  entire 
"  conversion,'*  induced  him  to  take  more  active 
measures  for  their  suppression.  He  appointed  Mar- 
shal Saint-Ruth  commander  of  the  district — a  man 
who  was  a  stranger  to  mercy,  who  breathed  only  car- 
nage, and  who,  because  of  his  ferocity,  was  known  as 
"  The  Scourge  of  the  Heretics." 

Daniel  de  Cosmac,  Bishop  of  Valence,  had  now  the  help 
of  Saint-Ruth  and  his  twenty  thousand  troops.  The  in- 
structions Saint-Ruth  received  from  Louvois  were  these  : 
'^Amnesty  has  no  longer  any  place  for  the  Yiverais, 
who  continue  in  rebellion  after  ha\ing  been  informed 
of  the  King's  gracious  designs.  In  one  word,  you  are 
to  cause  such  a  desolation  in  that  country  that  its  ex- 
ample may  restrain  all  other  Huguenots,  and  may  teach 
them  how  dangerous  it  is  to  rebel  against  the  King." 

This  was  a  work  quite  congenial  to  Saint-Puth* — 

*  Saint-Euth  was  afterwards,  in  1691,  sent  to  Ireland  to  take  the 
command  of  the  army  fighting  for  James  II.  against  William  III. 
There,  Saint-Ruth  had  soldiers,  many  of  them  Huguenots  banished 
from  France,  to  contend  with ;  and  he  was  accordingly  somewhat 
less  successful  lh;in  in  Viverais,  where  his  opponents  were  mostly 
peasants  and  workmen,  armed  (where  armed  at  all)  with  stones  picked 
from  the  roads.  Saint-Ruth  and  his  garrison  were  driven  from 
Athlone,  where  a  Huguenot  soldier  was  the  first  to  mount  the  breach. 
The  army  of  William  III.,  though  eight  thousand  fewer  in  number, 
followed  Saint-Ruth  and  his  Irish  army  to  the  field  of  Aughrim. 
His  host  was  there  drawn  up  in  an  almost  impregnable  position — 
along  the  heights  of  Kilcommeden,  with  the  Castle  of  Aughrim  on 
his  left  wing,  a  deep  bog  on  his  right,  and  another  bog  of  about  two 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON,  39 

rushing  about  the  country,  scourging,  slaughtering, 
laying  waste,  and  suppressing  the  assemblies — his 
soldiers  rushing  upon  their  victims  with  cries  of 
^' Death  or  the  Mass!" 

Tracking  the  Protestants  in  this  way  was  like  "  a 
hunt  in  a  great  enclosure."  When  the  soldiers  found 
a  meeting  of  the  people  going  on,  they  shot  them  down 
at  once,  though  unarmed.  If  they  were  unable  to  fly, 
they  met  death  upon  their  knees.  Antoine  Court 
recounts  meetings  in  which  as  many  as  between  three 
and  four  hundred  persons,  old  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, were  shot  dead  on  the  spot. 

De  Cosmac,  the  bishop,  was  yery  active  in  the  midst 
of  these  massacres.  When  he  went  out  to  convert  the 
people,  he  first  began  by  sending  out  Saint-Ruth  with 
the  dragoons.  Afterwards  he  himself  followed  to  give 
instructions  for  their  "conversion,"  partly  through 
favours,  partly  by  money.  "My  efforts,"  he  himself 
admitted,  "  were  not  always  without  success ;  yet  I 
must  avow  that  the  fear  of  the  dragoons,  and  of  their 
being  quartered  in  the  houses  of  the  heretics,  contri- 
buted much  more  to  their  conversion  than  anything 
that  I  did." 

The  same  course  was  followed  throughout  the 
Cevennes.  It  would  be  a  simple  record  of  cruelty 
to  describe  in  detail  the  military  proceedings  there  : 
the  dispersion  of  meetings ;    the   hanging  of  persons 


miles  extending  along  the  front,  and  apparently  completely  pro- 
tecting the  Irish  encampment.  Nevertheless,  the  English  and 
Huguenot  army  under  Ginckle,  bravely  attacked  it,  forced  the  pass 
to  the  camp,  and  routed  the  army  of  Saint-Kuth,  who  himself  was 
killed  by  a  cannon-ball.  The  principal  share  of  this  victory  was 
attributed  to  the  gallant  conduct  of  the  three  regiments  of  Huguenot 
horse,  under  the  command  of  the  Marqiiess  de  Ruvigny  (himself  a 
banished  Huguenot  nobleman)  who,  in  consequence  of  his  services, 
was  raised  to  the  Irish  peerage,  under  the  title  of  Earl  of  Galway. 


40  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

found  attending  tliem ;  tlie  breaking  npon  the  wlieel 
of  the  pastors  captured,  amidst  horrible  tortures ;  the 
destruction  of  dwellings  and  of  the  household  goods 
which  they  contained.  But  let  us  take  the  single  in- 
stance of  Homel,  formerly  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Soyon. 

Homel  was  taken  prisoner,  and  found  guilty  of 
preaching  to  his  flock  after  his  temple  had  been 
destroyed.  For  this  ofience  he  was  sentenced  to  be 
broken  to  death  uj)on  the  wheel.  To  receive  this 
punishment  he  was  conducted  to  Tournon,  in  Yiverais, 
where  the  Jesuits  had  a  college.  He  first  received  forty 
blows  of  the  iron  bar,  after  which  he  was  left  to  languish 
with  his  bones  broken,  for  forty  hours,  until  he  died. 
During  his  torments,  he  said  :  "I  count  myself  happy 
that  I  can  die  in  my  Master's  service.  What !  did  my 
glorious  Eedeemer  descend  from  heaAxn  and  sufier  an 
ignominious  death  for  my  salvation,  and  shall  I,  to 
prolong  a  miserable  life,  den}^  my  blessed  Saviour  and 
abandon  his  people?"  While  his  bones  were  being 
broken  on  the  wheel,  he  said  to  his  wife:  "Farewell, 
once  more,  my  beloved  spouse !  Though  you  witness  my 
bones  broken  to  shivers,  yet  is  my  soul  filled  with  in- 
expressible j  oy ."  After  life  was  finally  extinct,  his  heart 
was  taken  to  Chalen^on  to  be  publicly  exhibited,  and 
his  body  was  exposed  in  like  manner  at  Beauchatel. 

De  Noailles,  the  governor,  when  referring  in  one  of 
his  dispatches  to  the  heroism  displayed  by  the  tortured 
prisoners,  said :  "  These  wretches  go  to  the  wheel 
with  the  firm  assurance  of  dying  martyrs,  and  ask  no 
other  favour  than  that  of  dj'ing  quickly.  They  request 
pardon  of  the  soldiers,  but  there  is  not  one  of  them 
that  will  ask  pardon  of  the  King." 

To  return  to  Claude  Brousson.     After  his  eloquent 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON,  41 

defence  of  tlie  Huguenots  of  Montauban — the  result  of 
wliicli,  of  course,  was  that  the  church  was  ordered  to 
be  demolished — and  the  institution  of  processes  for 
the  demolition  of  fourteen  more  Protestant  temples, 
Brousson  at  last  became  aware  that  the  furv  of  the 
Catholics  and  the  King  was  not  to  be  satisfied  until 
they  had  utterly  crushed  the  religion  which  he  served. 

Brousson  was  repeatedly  ofi'ered  the  office  of 
counsellor  of  Parliament,  equivalent  to  the  office  of 
judge,  if  he  would  prove  an  apostate  ;  but  the  conscience 
of  Brousson  was  not  one  that  could  be  bought.  He 
also  found  that  his  office  of  defender  of  the  doomed 
Huguenots  could  not  be  maintained  without  personal 
danger,  whilst  (as  events  proved)  his  defence  was  of  no 
avail  to  them  ;  and  he  resolved,  with  much  regret,  to 
give  up  his  profession  for  a  time,  and  retire  for  safet}^ 
and  rest  to  his  native  town  of  JN^ismes. 

He  resided  there,  however,  only  about  four  months. 
Saint-Puth  and  De  Noailles  were  now  overawing  Upper 
Languedoc  with  their  troops.  The  Protestants  of 
Nismes  had  taken  no  part  in  ''The  Project;"  their 
remaining  temple  was  still  open.  But  they  got  up  a 
respectful  petition  to  the  King,  imploring  his  considera- 
tion of  their  case.  Poman  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
they  said,  had  so  many  interests  in  common,  that  the 
ruin  of  the  one  must  have  the  effect  of  ruining  the  other, 
— the  flourishing  manufactures  of  tlie  province,  which 
were  mostly  followed  by  the  Protestants,  being  now 
rapidly  proceeding  to  ruin.  They,  therefore,  implored 
his  Majesty  to  grant  them  permission  to  prosecute  their 
employments  unmolested  on  account  of  their  religious 
profession ;  and  lastly,  they  conjured  the  King,  by  his 
piety,  by  his  paternal  clemency,  and  by  every  law  of 
equity,  to  grant  them  freedom  of  religious  worship. 


42  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

It  was  of  no  use.  Tlie  hearts  of  tlie  King,  his 
clergy,  and  his  ministers,  were  all  hardened  against 
them.  A  copy  of  the  above  petition  was  presented  by 
two  ministers  of  Msmes  and  several  influential  gentle- 
men of  Lower  Languedoc  to  the  Duke  de  Noailles,  the 
governor  of  the  province.  He  treated  the  deputation 
with  contempt,  and  their  petition  with  scorn.  Writing 
to  Louvois,  the  King's  prime  minister,  De  !N^oailles 
said  :  "  Astonished  at  the  effrontery  of  these  wretched 
persons,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  send  them  all  prisoners 
to  the  Citadel  of  St.  Esprit  (in  the  Cevennes),  telling 
them  that  if  there  had  been  ^^etitcH  maisons*  enough  in 
Languedoc  I  should  not  have  sent  them  there." 

Nismcs  was  now  placed  under  the  same  ban  as 
Yivarais,  and  denounced  as  ''insurrectionary.''  To 
quell  the  pretended  revolt,  as  well  as  to  capture  certain 
persons  who  were  supposed  to  have  been  accessory  to 
the  framing  of  the  petition,  a  detachment  of  four 
hundred  dragoons  was  ordered  into  the  place.  One 
of  those  to  be  apprehended  was  Claude  Brousson. 
Hundreds  of  persons  knew  of  his  abode  in  the  city,  but 
notwithstanding  the  public  proclamation  (which  he 
himself  heard  from  the  window  of  the  house  where  he 
was  staying),  and  the  reward  offered  for  his  apprehen- 
sion, no  one  attempted  to  betray  him. 

After  remaining  in  the  city  for  three  days,  he 
adopted  a  disguised  dress,  passed  out  of  the  Crown 
Gate,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  found  a  safe 
retreat  in  Switzerland. 

Peyrol  and  Icard,  two  of  the  Protestant  ministers 
whom  the  dragoons  were  ordered  to  apprehend, 
also     escaped    into    Switzerland,    Peyrol    settling    at 

*  The  prisons  of  Languedoc  were  already  crowded  with  Protestants, 
and  hundreds  had  been  sent  to  the  galleys  at  Marseilles. 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON,  43 

Lausanne,  and  Icard  becoming  tlie  minister  of  a 
Huguenot  cliurch  in  Holland.  But  although  the 
ministers  had  escaped,  all  the  property  they  had  left 
behind  them  was  confiscated  to  the  Crown.  Hideous 
effigies  of  them  were  prepared  and  hung  on  gibbets  in 
the  market-place  of  JN^ismes  by  the  public  executioner, 
the  magistrates  and  dragoons  attending  the  sham  pro- 
ceeding with  the  usual  ceremony. 

At  Lausanne,  where  Claude  Brousson  settled  for  a 
time,  he  first  attempted  to  occupy  himself  as  a  lawj^er  ; 
but  this  he  shortly  gave  iip  to  devote  himself  to  the 
help  of  the  persecuted  Huguenots.  Like  Jurieu 
and  others  in  Holland,  who  flooded  Europe  with 
accounts  of  the  hideous  cruelties  of  Louis  XIY.  and 
his  myrmidons  the  clergy  and  dragoons,  he  composed 
and  published  a  work,  addressed  to  the  Homan  Catholic 
party  as  well  as  to  the  Protestants  of  all  countries, 
entitled,  "  The  State  of  the  Reform  Cvd  Church  of 
France.'*  He  afterwards  composed  a  series  of  letters 
specially  addressed  to  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  of 
France. 

But  expostulation  was  of  no  use.  With  each  suc- 
ceeding year  the  persecution  became  more  bitter,  until 
at  length,  in  1685,  the  Edict  was  revoked.  In  September 
of  that  year  Brousson  learnt  that  the  Protestant  church 
of  his  native  city  had  been  suppressed,  and  their  temple 
given  over  to  a  society  of  female  converters  ;  that  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  Protestants  who  refused  to 
abjure  their  faith  had  been  seized  and  imprisoned  in 
nunneries  and  religious  seminaries ;  and  that  three 
hundred  of  their  husbands  and  fathers  were  chained 
together  and  sent  ofi"  in  one  day  for  confinement  in  the 
galle}' s  at  Marseilles. 

The  number  of  Huguenots  resorting  to  Switzerland 


44  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

being  so  great,*  and  they  often  came  so  destitute,  that 
a  committee  was  formed  at  Lausanne  to  assist  tlie 
emigrants,  and  facilitate  their  settlement  in  the  canton, 
or  enable  them  to  proceed  elsewhere.  Brousson  was 
from  the  first  an  energetic  member  of  this  committee. 
Part  of  their  work  was  to  ^dsit  the  Protestant  states  of 
the  north,  and  find  out  places  to  which  the  emigrants 
might  be  forwarded,  as  well  as  to  collect  subscriptions 
for  their  conveyance. 

In  N'ovcmber  1685,  a  month  after  the  Revocation, 
Brousson  and  La  Porte  set  out  for  Berlin  with  this 
object.  La  Porte  was  one  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Cevennes,  who  had  fled  before  a  sentence  of  death 
pronounced  against  him  for  having  been  concerned  in 
"The  Project."  At  Berlin  they  were  received  very 
cordially  by  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  who  had 
already  given  great  assistance  to  the  Huguenot 
emigrants,  and  expressed  himself  as  willing  to  do  all 
that  he  could  for  their  protection.  Brousson  and  La 
Porte  here  met  the  Picv.  David  Ancillon,  who  had 
been   for   thirty- three    years    pastor    at   Metz,t    and 

*  Within  about  three  weeks  no  fewer  than  seventeen  thousand 
five  hundred  French  emigrants  passed  into  Lausanne.  Two  hundred 
Protestant  ministei's  fled  to  Switzerland,  the  greater  number  of  whom 
settled  in  Lausanne,  until  they  could  journey  elsewhere. 

t  Ancillon  was  an  eminently  learned  man.  His  library  was  one 
of  the  choicest  that  had  ever  been  collected,  and  on  his  expulsion 
from  Metz  it  was  pillaged  by  the  Jesuits.  Metz,  now  part  of 
German  Lorraine,  was  probably  not  so  ferociously  dragooned  as 
other  places.  Yet  the  inhabitants  were  under  the  apprehension 
that  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  was  about  to  be  repeated  upon' 
them  on  Christmas  Day,  1685,  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  having 
been  kept  under  arms  all  night.  The  Protestant  churches  were  all 
pulled  down,  the  ministers  were  expelled,  and  many  of  their  people 
iollowed  them  into  Germany.  There  were  numerous  Protestant 
soldiers  in  the  Metz  garrison,  and  the  order  of  the  King  was  that, 
like  the  rest  of  his  subjects,  they  should  become  converted.  Many 
of  the  oflficers  resigned  and  entered  the  service  of  William  of  Orange, 
and  many  of  the  soldiers  deserted.  The  bribe  offered  for  the  con- 
version of  privates  was  as  follows :  Common  soldiers  and  dragoons, 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  45 

was  now  pastor  of  tlie  Elector  at  Berlin ;  Gaultler, 
banished  from  Montpellier ;  and  Abbadie,  banished 
from  Sanmur — all  ministers  of  the  Huguenot  Church 
there  ;  with  a  large  number  of  banished  ministers  and 
emigrant  Protestants  from  all  the  provinces  of  France. 

The  Elector  suggested  to  Brousson  that  while  at 
Berlin  he  should  compose  a  summary  account  of  the 
condition  of  the  French  Protestants,  such  as  should 
excite  the  interest  and  evoke  the  help  of  the  Protes- 
tant rulers  and  people  of  the  northern  States.  This 
was  done  by  Brousson,  and  the  volume  was  published, 
entitled  "  Letters  of  the  Protestants  of  France  who 
have  abandoned  all  for  the  cause  of  the  Gospel,  to 
other  Protestants ;  with  a  particular  Letter  addressed 
to  Protestant  Kings,  Electors,  Pulers,  and  Magistrates." 
The  Elector  circulated  this  volume,  accompanying  it 
with  a  letter  w^ritten  in  his  name,  to  all  the  princes 
of  the  Continent  professing  the  Augsburg  Confession ; 
and  it  was  thus  mainly  owing  to  the  Elector's  inter- 
cession that  the  Huguenots  obtained  the  privilege  of 
establishing  congregations  in  several  of  the  states  of 
Germany,  as  well  as  in  Sweden  and  Denmark. 

Brousson  remained  nearly  five  months  at  Berlin, 
after  which  he  departed  for  Holland  to  note  the  progress 
of  the  emigration  in  that  country,  and  there  he  met  a 
large  number  of  his  countrymen.  IN'early  two  hundred 
and   fifty    Huguenot   ministers  had   taken   refuge   in 


two  pistoles  per  head ;  troopers,  three  pistoles  per  head.  The 
Protestants  of  Alsace  were  dilferently  treated.  They  constituted  a 
majority  of  the  population ;  Alsice  and  Strasburg  having  only 
recently  been  seized  by  Louis  XIV.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to 
be  cautious  in  that  quarter  ;  for  violence  would  speedily  have  raised 
a  revolution  in  the  province  which  would  have  driven  them  over  to 
Germany,  whose  language  they  spoke.  Louvois  could  therefore  only 
proceed  by  bribing  ;  and  he  Avas  successful  in  buying  over  some  of  the 
most  popular  and  influential  men. 


46  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Holland  ;  tliete  were  many  mercliants  and  manuflic- 
turers  who  had  set  up  tlieir  branches  of  industry  in  the 
country ;  and  there  were  many  soldiers  who  had  entered 
the  service  of  William  of  Orange.  While  in  Holland, 
Brousson  resided  ^principally  with  his  brother,  a  banished 
Huguenot,  who  had  settled  at  Amsterdam  as  a  merchant. 

Having  accomplished  all  that  he  could  for  his 
Husruenot  brethren  in  exile,  Brousson  returned  to  Lau- 
sanne,  where  he  continued  his  former  labours.  He 
bethought  him  very  much  of  the  Protestants  still 
remaining  in  France,  wandering  like  sheep  without 
shepherds,  deprived  of  guidance,  books,  and  worship — 
the  prey  of  ravenous  wolves, — and  it  occurred  to  him 
whether  the  Protestant  pastors  had  done  right  in 
leaving  their  flocks,  even  though  by  so  doing  they  had 
secured  the  safety  of  their  own  lives.  Accordingly,  in 
1686,  he  wrote  and  published  a  "  Letter  to  the  Pastors 
of  France  at  present  in  Protestant  States,  concerning 
the  Desolation  of  their  own  Churches,  and  their  own 
Exile." 

In  this  letter  he  says  : — "  If,  instead  of  retiring  before 
your  persecutors,  you  had  remained  in  the  country  ;  if 
you  had  taken  refuge  in  forests  and  caverns  ;  if  you  had 
gone  from  place  to  place,  risking  your  lives  to  instruct  and 
rally  the  people,  until  the  first  shock  of  the  enemy  was 
past ;  and  had  you  even  courageously  exposed  yourselves 
to  martyrdom — as  in  fact  those  have  done  who  have 
endeavoured  to  perform  your  duties  in  your  absence — 
perhaps  the  examples  of  constancy,  or  zeal,  or  of  piety 
you  had  discovered,  might  have  animated  your  flocks, 
revived  their  courage,  and  arrested  the  fury  of  your 
enemies."  He  accordingly  exhorted  the  Protestant 
ministers  who  had  left  France  to  return  to  their  flocks 
at  all  hazards. 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  47 

This  advice,  if  acted  on,  was  virtually  condemning  tlie 
pastors  to  deatli.  Brousson  was  not  a  pastor.  Would 
he  like  to  return  to  France  at  the  daily  risk  of  the  rack 
and  the  gibbet?  The  Protestant  ministers  in  exile 
defended  themselves.  Benoit,  then  residing  in  Ger- 
many, replied  in  a  "  History  and  Apology  for  the  Re- 
treat of  the  Pastors."  Another,  who  did  not  give  his 
name,  treated  Brousson' s  censure  as  that  of  a  fanatic, 
who  meddled  with  matters  beyond  his  vocation.  ''  You 
who  condemn  the  pastors  for  not  returning  to  France 
at  the  risk  of  their  lives,"  said  he,  "  ^chy  do  you  not  first 
return  to  France  yourself?^* 

Brousson  was  as  brave  as  his  words.  He  was 
not  a  pastor,  but  he  might  return  to  the  deserted 
flocks,  and  encourage  and  comfort  them.  He  could  no 
longer  be  happy  in  his  exile  at  Lausanne.  He  heard  by 
night  the  groans  of  the  prisoners  in  the  Tower  of  Con- 
stance, and  the  noise  of  the  chains  borne  by  the  galley 
slaves  at  Toulon  and  Marseilles.  He  reproached  him- 
self as  if  it  were  a  crime  with  the  repose  which  he 
enjoyed.  Life  became  insupportable  to  him  and  he  fell 
ill.  His  health  was  even  despaired  of ;  but  one  day  he 
suddenly  rose  up  and  said  to  his  wife,  "I  must  set  out ; 
I  will  go  to  console,  to  relieve,  to  strengthen  my  brethren, 
groaning  under  their  oppressions." 

His  wife  threw  herself  at  his  feet.  "  Thou  wouldst 
go  to  certain  death,"  she  said ;  "  think  of  me  and  thy 
little  children."  She  implored  him  again  and  again 
to  remain.  He  loved  his  wife  and  children,  but  he 
thought  a  higher  duty  called  him  away  from  them. 
When  his  friends  told  him  that  he  woidd  be  taken 
prisoner  and  hung,  he  said,  "  When  God  permits  his 
servants  to  die  for  the  Gospel,  they  preach  louder  from 
the  grave  than  they  did  during  life."     He  remained 


48  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

imsliaken.  He  would  go  to  the  help  of  the  opi^ressed 
with  the  love  of  a  brother,  the  faith  of  an  apostle,  and 
the  courage  of  a  martyr. 

Brousson  knew  the  danger  of  the  office  he  was  about 
to  undertake.  There  had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  nu- 
merous attempts  made  to  gather  the  Protestant  people 
together,  and  to  administer  consolation  to  thorn  by 
public  prayers  and  j^reaching.  The  persons  who  con- 
ducted these  services  were  not  regular  pastors,  but  only 
private  members  of  their  former  churches.  Some  of 
them  were  very  young  men,  and  they  were  nearly  all 
uneducated  as  regards  clerical  instruction.  One  of  the 
most  successful  was  Isaac  Yidal,  a  lame  young  man,  a 
mechanic  of  Colognac,  near  St.  Ilypolite,  in  the  Ceven- 
nes.  His  self-imj)oscd  ministrations  were  attended  by 
large  numbers  of  i^eople.  He  preached  for  only  six 
months  and  then  died — a  natural  death,  for  nearly  all 
who  followed  him  were  first  tortured  and  then  hung-. 

AVe  have  already  referred  to  Fulcran  Re}',  who 
preached  for  about  nine  months,  and  was  then  executed. 
In  the  same  year  were  executed  Mej^rueis,  by  trade  a 
woolcarder,  and  Eocher,  who  had  been  a  reader  in  one 
of  the  Protestant  churches.  Emanuel  Dalgues,  a  re- 
spectable inhabitant  of  Salle,  in  the  Cevennes,  also 
received  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  Ever  since  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict,  he  had  proclaimed  the  Gospel 
o'er  hill  and  dale,  in  woods  and  caverns,  to  assemblies 
of  the  people  wherever  he  could  collect  them.  He  was 
executed  in  1687.  Three  other  persons — Gransille, 
Mercier,  and  Esclopier — who  devoted  themselves  to 
preaching,  were  transported  as  slaves  to  America  ;  and 
David  Mazel,  a  boy  twelve  years  of  age,  who  had  a 
wonderful  memor}-^,  and  preached  sermons  -^hich  he 
had  learned  b}^  heart,  was  transported,  with  his  father 


CLA  UDE  B  ROUS  SON,  49 

and  otlier  frequenters  of  tlie  assemblies,  to  the  Carribee 
Islands. 

At  length  Bronsson  collected  about  him  a  number 
of  Huguenots  willing  to  return  with  him  into  France, 
in  order  to  collect  the  Protestant  people  together  again, 
to  pray  with  them,  and  even  to  preach  to  them  if  the 
opportunity  occurred.  Erousson's  companions  were 
these  :  Francis  Yivens,  formerly  a  schoolmaster  in  the 
Cevennes ;  Anthony  Bertezene,  a  carpenter,  brother  of 
a  preacher  who  had  recently  been  condemned  to  death  ; 
and  seven  other  persons  named  Papus,  La  Pierre,  Serein, 
Dombres,  Poutant,  Boisson,  and  M.  de  Bruc,  an  aged 
minister,  who  had  been  formerly  pastor  of  one  of  the 
churches  in  the  Cevennes.  They  prepared  to  enter 
France  in  four  distinct  companies,  in  the  month  of 
July,  1689. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

CLAUDE    BROUSSON,    PASTOR   AND   MARTYR. 

"DROUSSON  left  Lausanne  on  tlie  22nd  of  July,  ac- 
-^  companied  by  his  dear  friend,  tlie  Rev.  M.  de  Eruc. 
The  other  members  of  the  party  had  preceded  them, 
crossing  the  frontier  at  different  places.  They  all 
arrived  in  safetj^  at  their  destination^  which  was  in  the 
mountain  district  of  the  Cevennes.  They  resorted  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Aigoual,  the  centre  of  a.  very 
inaccessible  region — wild,  cold,  but  full  of  recesses  for 
hiding  and  worship.  It  was  also  a  district  surrounded 
by  villages,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  for  the  most 
part  Protestant. 

The  party  soon  became  diminished  in  number.  The 
old  pastor,  De  Bruc,  found  himself  unequal  to  the 
fatigue  and  privations  attending  the  work.  He  was 
ill  and  unable  to  travel,  and  was  accordingly  advised 
by  his  companions  to  quit  the  service  and  withdraw 
from  the  country. 

Persecution  also  destroyed  some  of  them.  When  it 
became  known  that  assemblies  for  religious  observances 
were  again  on  foot,  an  increased  force  of  soldiers  was 
sent  into  the  district,  and  a  high  price  was  set  on  the 
heads  of  all  the  j)reacher3  that  could  be  apprehended. 
The  soldiers  scoured  the  country,  and,  helped  by  the 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  51 

paid  spies,  tliey  shortly  succeeded  in  apprehending 
Boisson  and  Dombres,  at  St.  Paul's,  north  of  Anduze, 
in  the  Cevennes.  They  were  both  executed  at  Nismes, 
being  first  subjected  to  torture  on  the  rack,  by  which 
their  limbs  were  entirely  dislocated.  They  were  then 
conveyed  to  the  place  of  execution,  praying  and  singing 
psalms  on  the  way,  and  finished  their  course  with 
courage  and  joy. 

When  Brousson  first  went  into  the  Cevennes,  he  did 
not  undertake  to  preach  to  the  people.  He  was  too 
modest  to  assume  the  position  of  a  pastor ;  he  merely 
undertook,  as  occasion  required,  to  read  the  Scriptures 
in  Protestant  families  and  in  small  companies,  making 
his  remarks  and  exhortations  thereupon.  He  also 
transcribed  portions  of  his  own  meditations  on  the 
Scriptures,  and  gave  them  away  for  distribution  from 
hand  to  hand  amongst  the  j)eople. 

When  it  was  found  that  his  instructions  were  much 
appreciated,  and  that  numbers  of  people  assembled  to 
hear  him  read  and  exhort,  he  was  strongly  urged  to 
undertake  the  office  of  public  instructor  amongst  them, 
especially  as  their  ministers  were  being  constantly 
diminished  by  execution. 

He  had  been  about  five  months  in  the  Cevennes,  and 
was  detained  by  a  fall  of  snow  on  one  of  the  mountains, 
where  his  abode  was  a  sheepcote,  when  the  proposal 
that  he  should  become  a  j)reacher  was  first  made  to  him. 
Yivens  was  one  of  those  who  most  strongly  supported 
the  appeal  made  to  Brousson.  He  spent  many  hours 
in  private  prayer,  seeking  the  approval  of  God-  for  the 
course  he  was  about  to  undertake.  Yivens  also  prayed 
in  the  several  assemblies  that  Brousson  might  be  con- 
firmed, and  that  God  would  be  pleased  to  pour  upon 
him  his  Holy  Spirit,   and  strengthen  him  so  that  he 


52  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

mi  gilt  become  a  faitlifiil  and  successful  labourer  in  tliis 
great  calling. 

Brousson  at  length  consented,  believing  that  duty  and 
conscience  alike  called  upon  him  to  give  the  best  of  bis 
help  to  the  oppressed  and  persecuted  Protestants  of  the 
mountains.  "  Brethren,"  he  said  to  them,  when  they 
called  upon  him  to  administer  to  them  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist — "  Brethren,  I  look  above  you, 
and  hear  the  most  High  God  calling  me  through  your 
mouths  to  this  most  responsible  and  sacred  office  ;  and 
I  dare  not  be  disobedient  to  his  heavenly  call.  By  the 
grace  of  God  I  will  comply  with  your  pious  desires ; 
dedicate  and  devote  myself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  spend  the  remainder  of  my  life  in  unwearied  pains 
and  endeavours  for  promoting  God's  glory,  and  the 
consolation  of  precious  souls." 

Brousson  received  his  call  to  the  ministry  in  the 
Cevennes  amidst  the  sound  of  musketry  and  grapeshot 
which  spread  death  among  the  ranks  of  his  brethren. 
He  was  continuously  tracked  by  the  spies  of  the  Jesuits, 
who  sought  his  apprehension  and  death;  and  he  was 
hunted  from  place  to  place  by  the  troops  of  the  King, 
who  followed  him  in  his  wanderings  into  the  most  wild 
and  inaccessible  places. 

The  perilous  character  of  his  new  profession  was 
exhibited  only  a  few  days  after  his  ordination,  by  the 
apprehension  of  Olivier  Souverain  at  St.  Jean  de 
Gardonenque,  for  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  assem- 
blies. He  was  at  once  conducted  to  Montpellier  and 
executed  on  the  15th  of  January,  1690. 

During  the  same  year,  Dumas,  another  preacher  in 
the  Cevennes,  was  apprehended  and  fastened  by  the 
troopers  across  a  horse  in  order  to  be  carried  to  Mont- 
pellier.    His  bowels  were  so  injured  and  his  bod\  so 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  53 

cruslied  by  this  horrible  method  of  conveyance,  that 
Dumas  died  before  he  was  half  way  to  the  customary 
place  of  martyrdom. 

Then  followed  the  execution  of  David  Quoite,  a 
wandering  and  hunted  pastor  in  the  Cevennes  for 
several  years.  He  was  broken  on  the  wheel  at  Mont- 
pellier,  and  then  hanged.  *'The  pimishment,"  said 
Louvreleuil,  his  tormentor,  '*  which  broke  his  bones, 
did  not  break  his  hardened  heart :  he  died  in  his 
heresy."  After  Quoite,  M.  Bonnemere,  a  native  of  the 
same  city,  was  also  tortured  and  executed  in  like  man- 
ner on  the  Peyrou. 

All  these  persons  were  taken,  executed,  destroyed,  or 
imprisoned,  during  the  first  year  that  Brousson  com- 
menced his  perilous  ministry  in  the  Cevennes. 

About  the  same  time  three  women,  who  had  gone 
about  instructing  the  families  of  the  destitute  Pro- 
testants, reading  the  Scriptures  and  praying  with  them, 
were  apprehended  by  Baville,  the  King's  intendant, 
and  punished.  Isabeau  Redothiere,  eighteen  years  of 
age,  and  Marie  Lintarde,  about  a  year  younger,  both 
the  daughters  of  peasants,  were  taken  before  Baville  at 
!N^ismes. 

"What  !  are  you  one  of  the  preachers,  forsooth?" 
said  he  to  Redothiere.  "  Sir,"  she  replied,  "  I  have 
exhorted  my  brethren  to  be  mindful  of  their  duty 
towards  God,  and  when  occasion  ofiered,  I  have  sought 
God  in  prayer  for  them ;  and,  if  your  lordship  calls 
that  preaching,  I  have  been  a  preacher."  "  But,"  said 
the  Intendant,  "  you  know  that  the  King  has  forbidden 
this."  *'  Yes,  my  lord,"  she  replied,  "  I  know  it  very 
well,  but  the  King  of  kings,  the  God  of  heaven  and 
earth.  He  hath  commanded  it."  "  You  deserve  death," 
replied  Baville. 


54  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

But  tlie  Intendant  awarded  her  a  severer  fate.  She 
was  condemned  to  be  imprisoned  for  life  in  the 
Tower  of  Constance,  a  place  echoing  with  the  groans 
of  women,  most  of  whom  were  in  chains,  perj)etually 
imprisoned  there  for  worshipping  God  according  to 
conscience. 

Lintarde  was  in  like  manner  condemned  to  imprison- 
ment for  life  in  the  castle  of  Sommieres,  and  it  is 
believed  she  died  there.  JN'othing,  however,  is  known 
of  the  time  when  she  died.  When  a  woman  was  taken 
and  imprisoned  in  one  of  the  King's  torture-houses,  she 
was  given  up  by  her  friends  as  lost. 

A  third  woman,  taken  at  the  same  time,  was  more 
mercifull}^  dealt  with.  Anne  Montjoj^e  was  found 
assisting  at  one  of  the  secret  assemblies.  She  was 
solicited  in  vain  to  abjure  her  faith,  and  being  con- 
demned to  death,  was  publicly  executed. 

Shortly  after  his  ordination,  Brousson  descended  from 
the  Upper  Cevennes,  where  the  hunt  for  Protestants 
was  becoming  very  hot,  into  the  adjacent  valleys  and 
plains.  There  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  be  exceed- 
ingly cautious.  The  number  of  dragoons  in  Languedoc 
had  been  increased  so  as  to  enable  them  regularly  to 
patrol  the  entire  province,  and  a  price  had  been  set 
upon  Brousson's  head,  which  was  calculated  to  quicken 
their  search  for  the  flying  pastor. 

Brousson  was  usually  kept  informed  by  his  Hugue- 
not friends  of  the  direction  taken  by  the  dragoons  in 
their  patrols,  and  hasty  assemblies  were  summoned  in 
their  absence.  The  meetings  were  held  in  some  secret 
place — some  cavern  or  recess  in  the  rocks.  Often  they 
were  held  at  night,  when  a  few  lanterns  were  hurg 
on  the  adjacent  trees  to  give  light.  Sentinels  were  set 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  all  the  adjoining  roads  were 


CLAUDE  B ROUS  SON  55 

watcliecl.  After  the  meeting  was  over  the  assemblage 
dispersed  in  different  directions,  and  Brousson  immedi- 
ately left  for  another  district,  travelling  mostly  by 
night,  so  as  to  avoid  detection.  In  this  manner  he 
usually  presided  at  three  or  four  assemblies  each  week, 
besides  two  on  the  Sabbath  day — one  early  in  the 
morning  and  another  at  night. 

At  one  of  his  meetings,  held  at  Boucoiran  on  the 
Garden,  about  half  way  between  Kismes  and  Anduze, 
a  Protestant  nobleman — a  oiouveau  convertis,  who  had 
abjured  his  religion  to  retain  his  estates — was  present, 
and  stood  near  the  preacher  during  the  service.  One 
of  the  Government  spies  was  present,  and  gave  informa- 
tion. The  name  of  the  Protestant  nobleman  was  not 
known.  But  the  Intendant,  to  strike  terror  into  others, 
seized  six  of  the  principal  landed  proprietors  in  the 
neio:hbourhood  —  thouo^h  some  of  them  had  never 
attended  any  of  the  assemblies  since  the  Pevocation — 
and  sent  two  of  them  to  the  galleys,  and  the  four  others 
to  imprisonment  for  life  at  Lyons,  besides  confiscating 
the  estates  of  the  whole  to  the  Crown. 

Brousson  now  felt  that  he  was  bringing  his  friends 
into  very  great  trouble,  and,  out  of  consideration  for 
them,  he  began  to  think  of  again  leaving  France.  The 
dragoons  were  practising  much  cruelty  on  the  Protestant 
population,  being  quartered  in  their  houses,  and  at 
liberty  to  plunder  and  extort  money  to  any  extent. 
They  were  also  incessantly  on  the  look  out  for  the 
assemblies,  being  often  led  by  mounted  priests  and 
spies  to  places  where  they  had  been  informed  that 
meetings  were  about  to  be  held.  Their  principal  ob- 
ject, besides  hanging  the  persons  found  attending,  was 
to  seize  the  preachers,  more  especially  Brousson  and 
Yivens,  believing  that  the  country  would  be  more  effec- 


56  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

tually  "  conyerted,"  provided  they  could  be  seized  and 
got  out  of  the  way. 

Brousson,  knowing  that  he  might  be  seized  and  taken 
prisoner  at  any  moment,  had  long  considered  whether 
he  ought  to  resist  the  attempts  made  to  capture  him. 
He  had  at  first  carried  a  sword,  but  at  length  ceased  to 
wear  it,  being  resolved  entirely  to  cast  himself  on  Pro- 
vidence ;  and  he  also  instructed  all  who  resorted  to  his 
meetings  to  come  to  them  unarmed. 

In  this  respect  Brousson  differed  from  Yivens,  who 
thought  it  right  to  resist  force  by  force  ;  and  in  the 
event  of  any  attempt  being  made  to  capture  him,  he 
considered  it  expedient  to  be  constantly  provided  with 
arms.  Yet  he  had  only  once  occasion  to  use  them,  and 
it  was  the  first  and  last  time.  The  reward  of  ten 
thousand  livres  being  now  offered  for  the  apprehension 
of  Brousson  and  Yivens,  or  five  thousand  for  either,  an 
active  search  was  made  throughout  the  province.  At 
length  the  Government  found  themselves  on  the  track 
of  Yivens.  One  of  his  known  followers,  Yalderon, 
having  been  apprehended  and  put  upon  the  rack,  was 
driven  by  torture  to  reveal  his  place  of  concealment. 
A  party  of  soldiers  went  in  pursuit,  and  found  Yivens 
with  three  other  persons,  concealed  in  a  cave  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Alais. 

Yivens  was  engaged  in  prayer  when  the  soldiers 
came  upon  him.  His  hand  was  on  his  gun  in  a  moment. 
When  asked  to  surrender  he  replied  with  a  shot,  not 
knowing  the  number  of  his  opponents.  He  followed 
up  with  two  other  shots,  killing  a  man  each  time,  and 
then  exposing  himself,  he  was  struck  by  a  volley,  and 
fell  dead.  The  three  other  persons  in  the  cave  being 
in  a  position  to  hold  the  soldiers  at  defiance  for  some 
time,  were   promised  their  lives   if  they  would  sur- 


CLA  UDE  BRO  US  SON.  5  7 

render.  They  did  so,  and  Tvitli  the  utter  want  of 
truth,  lo5^alt3%  and  manliness  that  characterized  the 
persecutors,  the  promise  was  belied,  and  the  three 
prisoners  were  hanged,  a  few  days  after,  at  Alais. 
Yivens'  body  was  taken  to  the  same  place.  The  Inten- 
dant  sat  in  judgment  upon  it,  and  condemned  it  to  be 
drawn  through  the  streets  upon  a  hurdle  and  then  burnt 
to  ashes. 

Brousson  was  becoming  exhausted  by  the  fatigues 
and  privations  he  had  encountered  during  his  two 
years'  wanderings  and  preachings  in  the  Cevennes  ;  and 
he  not  only  desired  to  give  the  people  a  relaxation 
from  their  persecution,  but  to  give  himself  some  abso- 
lutely necessary  rest.  He  accordingly  proceeded  to 
Msmes,  his  birthplace,  where  many  people  knew  him ; 
and  where,  if  they  betrayed  him,  they  might  easily  have 
earned  five  thousand  livres.  But  so  much  faith  was  kept 
by  the  Protestants  amongst  one  another,  that  Brous- 
son felt  that  his  life  was  quite  as  safe  amongst  his 
townspeople  as  it  had  been  during  the  last  two  years 
amoncrst  the  mountaineers  of  the  Cevennes. 

It  soon  became  known  to  the  priests,  and  then  to  the 
Intendant,  that  Brousson  was  resident  in  concealment 
at  IS'ismes  ;  and  great  efforts  were  accordingly  made  for 
his  apprehension.  During  the  search,  a  letter  of  Brous- 
son's  was  found  in  the  possession  of  M.  Guion,  an  aged 
minister,  who  had  returned  from  Switzerland  to  resume 
his  ministry,  according  as  he  might  find  it  practicable. 
The  result  of  this  discovery  was,  that  Guion  was  appre- 
hended, taken  before  the  Intendant,  condemned  to  be 
executed,  and  sent  to  Montpellier,  where  he  gave  up  his 
life  at  seventy  years  old — the  drums  beating,  as  usual, 
that  nobody  might  hear  his  last  words.  The  house  in 
which  Guion  had  been  taken  at  Nismes  was  ordered 


S8  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

to  be  razed  to  the  ground,  in  punisliment  of  the  owner 
who  had  given  him  shelter. 

After  spending  about  a  month  at  Nismes,  Brousson 
was  urged  by  his  friends  to  quit  the  city.  He  accor- 
dingl}^  succeeded  in  passing  through  the  gates,  and  went 
to  resume  his  former  work.  His  first  assembly  was 
held  in  a  commodious  place  on  the  Gfardon,  between 
Valence,  Brignon,  and  St.  Maurice,  about  ten  miles  dis- 
tant from  Nismes.  Although  he  had  requested  that 
only  the  Protestants  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
should  attend  the  meeting,  so  as  not  to  excite  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  authorities,  yet  a  multitude  of  persons 
came  from  Uzes  and  IS^ismes,  augmented  by  accessions 
from  upwards  of  thirty  villages.  The  service  was  com- 
menced about  ten  o'clock,  and  was  not  completed  until 
midnight. 

The  concourse  of  persons  from  all  quarters  had  been 
so  great  that  the  soldiers  could  not  fail  to  be  informed 
of  it.  Accordingly  they  rode  towards  the  place  of 
assemblage  late  at  night,  but  they  did  not  arrive 
until  the  meeting  had  been  dissolved.  One  troop  of 
soldiers  took  ambush  in  a  wood  through  which  the 
worshippers  would  return  on  their  way  back  to  Uzes. 
The  command  had  been  given  to  "  draw  blood  from  the 
conventicles.'^  On  the  approach  of  the  people  the 
soldiers  fired,  and  killed  and  wounded  several.  About 
forty  others  were  taken  prisoners.  The  men  were  sent 
to  the  galleys  for  life,  and  the  women  were  thrown 
into  gaol  at  Carcassone — the  Tower  of  Constance  being- 
then  too  full  of  prisoners. 

After  this  event,  the  Government  became  more 
anxious  in  their  desire  to  capture  Brousson.  They 
published  far  and  wide  their  renewed  offer  of  reward 
for  his  apprehension.     They  sent  six  fresh  companies 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON,  *  59 

of  soldiers  speciall}^  to  track  Mm,  and  examine  tlie 
woods  and  search  tlie  caves  between  Uzes  and  Alais. 
But  Brousson's  friends  took  care  to  advise  him  of  the 
approach  of  danger,  and  he  sped  away  to  take  shelter 
in  another  quarter.  The  soldiers  were,  however,  close 
upon  his  heels  ;  and  one  morning,  in  attempting  to 
enter  a  village  for  the  purpose  of  drying  himself — 
having  been  exposed  to  the  winter's  rain  and  cold  all 
night — he  suddenly  came  upon  a  detachment  of  soldiers ! 
He  avoided  them  by  taking  shelter  in  a  thicket,  and 
while  there,  he  observed  another  detachment  pass  in 
file,  close  to  where  he  was  concealed.  The  soldiers  were 
divided  into  four  parties,  and  sent  out  to  search  in  dif- 
ferent directions,  one  of  them  proceeding  to  search 
every  house  in  the  village  into  which  Brousson  had 
just  been  about  to  enter. 

The  next  assembly  was  held  at  Sommieres,  about 
eight  miles  west  of  ISTismes.  The  soldiers  were  too  late 
to  disperse  the  meeting,  but  they  watched  some  of  the 
people  on  their  return.  One  of  these,  an  old  woman, 
who  had  been  observed  to  leave  the  place,  was  shot  on 
entering  her  cottage ;  and  the  soldier,  observing  that 
she  was  attempting  to  rise,  raised  the  butt  end  of  his 
gun  and  brained  her  on  the  spot. 

The  hunted  pastors  of  the  Cevennes  were  falling  off 
one  by  one.  Bernard  Saint  Paul,  a  yoimg  man,  who 
had  for  some  time  exercised  the  office  of  preacher,  was 
executed  in  1692.  One  of  the  brothers  Du  Plans  was 
executed  in  the  same  year,  having  been  offered  his  life 
if  he  would  conform  to  the  Catholic  religion.  In  the 
following  year  Paul  Colognac  was  executed,  after  being 
broken  to  death  on  the  wheel  at  Masselargais,  near 
to  which  he  had  held  his  last  assembly.  His  arms, 
thighs,  legs,  and  feet  were  severally  broken  with  the 


6o  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

iron  bar  some  hours  before  the  coup  de  grace,  or  deatli- 
blow,  was  inflicted.  Colognac  endured  bis  sufferings 
with  beroic  fortitude.  He  was  only  twenty-four.  He 
bad  commenced  to  preach  at  twenty,  and  laboured  at 
tbe  work  for  only  four  years. 

Brousson's  health  was  fast  giving  ^ay.  Ever}^  place 
that  he  frequented  was  closely  watched,  so  that  he  had 
often  to  spend  the  night  under  the  hollow  of  a  rock,  or 
under  the  shelter  of  a  wood,  exposed  to  rain  and  snow, 
— and  sometimes  he  had  even  to  contend  with  a  wolf 
for  the  shelter  of  a  cave.  Often  he  was  almost  perish- 
ing for  want  of  food  ;  and  often  be  found  himself  nearly 
ready  to  die  for  want  of  rest.  And  yet,  even  in  the 
midst  of  bis  greatest  perils,  his  constant  thought  was 
of  the  people  committed  to  him,  and  for  whose  eternal 
happiness  he  continued  to  work. 

As  he  could  not  visit  all  who  Avished  to  hear  him,  be 
wrote  out  sermons  that  might  be  read  to  them.  His 
friend  Henry  Poutant,  one  of  those  who  originally 
accompanied  him  from  Switzerland  and  bad  not  yet 
been  taken  prisoner  by  the  soldiers,  went  about  hold- 
ing meetings  for  prayer,  and  reading  to  the  people  the 
sermons  prepared  for  them  by  Brousson. 

For  the  purpose  of  writing  out  his  sermons,  Brous- 
son carried  about  with  him  a  small  board,  which  he 
called  his  *' Wilderness  Table."  With  this  placed 
upon  his  knees,  he  wrote  the  sermons,  for  the  most 
part  in  woods  and  caves.  He  copied  out  seventeen  of 
these  sermons,  which  he  sent  to  Louis  XI Y.,  to  show 
him  that  what  *'  he  preached  in  the  deserts  contained 
nothing  but  the  pure  word  of  God,  and  that  he  only 
exhorted  the  people  to  obey  God  and  to  give  glory  to 
Him." 

The    sermons   were   afterwards    published   at   Am- 


CLA  UDE  B  ROUS  SON.  6 1 

sterdam,  in  1695,  under  the  title  of  '' Tlie  Mystic 
Manna  of  tlie  Desert."  One  would  have  expected 
that,  under  the  bitter  persecutions  which  Brousson  had 
suffered  during  so  many  years,  they  would  have  been 
full  of  denunciation  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  only 
full  of  love.  His  words  were  only  burning  when  he 
censured  his  hearers  for  not  remaining  faithful  to  their 
Church  and  to  their  God. 

At  length,  the  fury  of  Brousson's  enemies  so  in- 
creased, and  his  health  was  so  much  impaired,  that  he 
again  thought  of  leaving  France.  His  lungs  were  so 
much  injured  by  constant  exposure  to  cold,  and  his 
voice  had  become  so  much  impaired,  that  he  could  not 
preach.  He  also  heard  that  his  family,  whom  he  had 
left  at  Lausanne,  required  his  assistance.  His  only  son 
was  growing  up,  and  needed  education.  Perhaps  Brous- 
son had  too  long  neglected  those  of  his  own  household  ; 
though  he  had  every  confidence  in  the  prudence  and 
thoughtfulness  of  his  wife. 

Accordingly,  about  the  end  of  1693,  Brousson  made 
arrano^ements  for  leavino:  the  Cevennes.  He  set  out  in 
the  beginning  of  December,  and  arrived  at  Lausanne 
about  a  fortnight  later,  having  been  engaged  on  his 
extraordinary  mission  of  duty  and  peril  for  four  years 
and  five  months.  He  was  received  like  one  rescued 
from  the  dead.  His  health  was  so  injured,  that  his 
wife  could  scarcely  recognise  her  husband  in  that  wan, 
wasted,  and  weatherbeaten  creature  who  stood  before 
her.     In  fact,  he  was  a  perfect  wreck. 

He  remained  about  fifteen  months  in  Switzerland, 
during  which  he  preached  in  the  Huguenots'  church  ; 
wrote  out  many  of  his  pastoral  letters  and  sermons  ; 
and,  when  his  health  had  become  restored,  he  again 
proceeded  on  his  travels  into  foreign  countries.     He 


02  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

first  wsnt  into  Holland.  He  had  scarely  arrived  there, 
when  intelligence  reached  him  from  Montpellier  of  the 
execut'ion,  after  barbarous  torments,  of  his  friend  Papus, 
— one  of  those  who  had  accompanied  him  into  the 
Cevennes  to  j)reach  the  Gospel  some  six  years  before. 
There  were  now  very  few  of  the  original  company  left. 

On  hearing  of  the  martydom  of  Papus,  Brousson,  in 
a  pastoral  letter  which  he  addressed  to  his  followers, 
said  :  "  He  must  have  died  some  day ;  and  as  he  could 
not  have  prolonged  his  life  beyond  the  term  appointed, 
how  could  his  end  have  been  more  happy  and  more 
glorious  ?  His  constancy,  his  sweetness  of  temper,  his 
patience,  his  humility,  his  faith,  his  hope,  and  his  piety, 
affected  even  his  judges  and  the  false  pastors  who  en- 
deavoured to  seduce  him,  as  also  the  soldiers  and  all 
that  witnessed  his  execution.  He  could  not  have 
preached  better  than  he  did  by  his  martyrdom ;  and  I 
doubt  not  that  his  death  will  produce  abundance  of 
fruit." 

While  in  Holland,  Brousson  took  the  opportunity  of 
having  his  sermons  and  many  of  his  pastoral  letters 
printed  at  Amsterdam ;  after  which  he  proceeded  to 
make  a  visit  to  his  banished  Huguenot  friends  in 
England.  He  also  wished  to  ascertain  from  personal 
inquiry  the  advisability  of  forwarding  an  increased 
number  of  French  emigrants — then  resident  in  Swit- 
zerland— for  settlement  in  this  country.  In  London, 
he  met  many  of  his  friends  from  the  South  of  France — 
for  there  were  settled  there  as  ministers,  Graverol 
of  Nismes,  Satur  of  Moutauban,  four  ministers  from 
Montpellier  for  whom  he  had  pleaded  in  the  courts 
at  Toulouse — the  two  Dubourdieus  and  the  two  Ber- 
thaus — fathers  and  sons.  There  were  also  La  Coux 
from    Castres,  Be  Joux  from  Lyons,  Roussillon  from 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  63 

MontredoD,  Mestayer  from  St.  Quentin,  all  settled  in 
London  as  ministers  of  Huguenot  churclies. 

After  staying  in  England  for  only  about  a  month, 
Brousson  was  suddenly  recalled  to  Holland  to  assume 
tlie  office  to  wliicli  lie  was  appointed  without  solicita- 
tion, of  preacher  to  the  Walloon  church  at  the  Hague. 
Though  his  office  was  easy — for  he  had  several  col- 
leagues to  assist  him  in  the  duties — and  the  salary  was 
abundant  for  his  purposes,  while  he  was  living  in  the 
society  of  his  wife  and  family — Brousson  nevertheless 
very  soon  began  to  bo  ill  at  ease.  He  still  thought  of 
the  abandoned  Huguenots  "in  the  Desert''  ;  without 
teachers,  without  pastors,  without  spiritual  help  of 
any  kind.  When  he  had  undertaken  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  he  had  vowed  that  he  would  devote  his  time 
and  talents  to  the  support  and  help  of  the  afflicted 
Church ;  and  now  he  was  living  at  ease  in  a  foreign 
country,  far  removed  from  those  to  whom  he  con- 
sidered his  services  belonged.  These  thoughts  were 
constantly  recurring  and  pressing  upon  his  mind  ;  and 
at  length  he  ceased  to  have  any  rest  or  satisfaction  in 
his  new  position. 

Accordingly,  after  only  about  four  months'  connec- 
tion with  the  Church  at  the  Hague,  Brousson  decided 
to  relinquish  the  charge,  and  to  devote  himself  to 
the  service  of  the  oppressed  and  afflicted  members  of 
his  native  Church  in  France.  The  Dutch  Government, 
however,  having  been  informed  of  his  perilous  and 
self-sacrificing  intention,  agreed  to  continue  his  salary 
as  a  pastor  of  the  Walloon  Church,  and  to  pay  it  to 
his  wife,  who  henceforth  abode  at  the  Hague. 

Brousson  determined  to  enter  France  from  the  north, 
and  to  visit  districts  that  were  entirely  new  to  him. 
For  this  purpose  he  put  himself  in  charge  of  a  guide. 


64  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

At  that  time,  while  the  Protestants  were  flying  from 
France,  as  they  continued  to  do  for  many  years,  there 
were  numerous  persons  who  acted  as  guides  for  those 
not  only  flying  from,  but  entering  the  country.  Those 
who  guided  Protestant  pastors  on  their  concealed  visits 
to  Prance,  were  men  of  great  zeal  and  courage — 
known  to  be  faithful  and  self-denying — and  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  country.  They  knew  all  the  woods, 
and  fords,  and  caves,  and  places  of  natural  shelter  along 
the  route.  They  made  the  itinerary  of  the  mountains 
and  precipices,  of  the  byways  and  deserts,  their  study. 
They  also  knew  of  the  dwellings  of  the  faithful  in  the 
towns  and  villages  where  Huguenots  might  find  relief 
and  shelter  for  the  night.  They  studied  the  disguises 
to  be  assumed,  and  were  prepared  with  a  stock  of 
phrases  and  answers  adapted  for  every  class  of  inquiries. 

The  guide  employed  by  Brousson  was  one  James 
Bruman — an  old  Huguenot  merchant,  banished  at  the 
Revocation,  and  now  employed  in  escorting  Huguenot 
preachers  back  to  France,  and  escorting  flying  Hugue- 
not men,  women,  and  children  from  it.*  The  pastor 
and  his  guide  started  about  the  end  of  August,  1695. 
They  proceeded  by  way  of  Liege  ;  and  travelling  south, 
they  crossed  the  forest  of  Ardennes,  and  entered  France 
near  Sedan. 

Sedan,  recently  the  scene  of  one  of  the  greatest 
calamities  that  has  ever  befallen  France,  was,  about 
two  centuries  ago,  a  very  prosperous  place.  It  was  the 
seat  of  a  great  amount  of  Protestant  learning  and  Pro- 
testant industry.  One  of  the  four  principal  Huguenot 
academies  of  France  was  situated  in  that  town.    It  was 


*  Many  of  these  extraordinary  escapes  are  given  in  the  author's 
"  Huguenots  :  their  Settlements,  Churches,  and  Industries,  in  Eng- 
land and  Ireland." 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  65 

suppressed  in  1681,  sliortl}^  before  tlie  Kevocation,  and 
its  professors,  Bayle,  Abbadie,  Basnage,  Brazy,  and 
Jurieu,  expelled  the  country.  The  academy  build- 
ings themselves  had  been  given  over  to  the  Jesuits — the 
sworn  enemies  of  the  Huguenots. 

At  the  same  time,  Sedan  had  been  the  seat  of  great 
woollen  manufactures,  originally  founded  by  Flemish 
Protestant  families,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  arms, 
implements  of  husbandry,  and  all  kinds  of  steel  and 
iron  articles.*  At  the  Revocation,  the  Protestants 
packed  up  their  tools  and  property,  suddenly  escaped 
across  the  frontier,  near  which  they  were,  and  went 
and  established  themselves  in  the  Low  Countries,  where 
they  might  pursue  their  industries  in  safety.  Sedan 
was  ruined,  and  remained  so  until  our  own  day,  when 
it  has  begun  to  experience  a  little  prosperity  from  the 
tourists  desirous  of  seeing  the  place  where  the  great 
French  Army  surrendered. 

When  Brousson  visited  the  place,  the  remaining 
Protestants  resided  chiefly  in  the  suburban  villages  of 
Givonne  and  Daigny.  He  visited  them  in  their  fami- 
lies, and  also  held  several  private  meetings,  after  which 
he  was  induced  to  preach  in  a  secluded  place  near  Sedan 
at  night. 

This  assembl}^,  however,  was  reported  to  the  autho- 
rities, who  immediately  proceeded  to  make  search  for 
the  heretic  preacher.  A  party  of  soldiers,  informed  by 
the  spies,  next  morning  invested  the  house  in  which 
Brousson  slept.  They  first  apprehended  Bruman,  the 
guide,  and  thought  that  in  him  they  had  secured  the 

*  There  were  from  eighty  to  ninety  establishments  for  the  manu- 
facture of  broadcloth  in  Sedan,  giving  employment  to  more  than 
two  thousand  persons.  These,  together  with  the  iron  and  steel 
manufactures,  were  entirely  ruined  at  the  Revocation,  when  the 
whole  of  the  Protestant  mechanics  went  into  exile,  and  settled  for  the 
most  part  in  Holland  and  England. 


66  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

pastor.  They  next  rummaged  tlie  house,  in  order  to 
find  the  preacher's  books.  But  Brousson,  hearing  them 
coming  in,  hid  himself  behind  the  door,  which,  being 
small,  hardly  concealed  his  person. 

After  setting  a  guard  all  round  the  house,  ransack- 
ing every  room  in  it,  and  turning  everything  upside 
down,  they  left  it ;  but  two  of  the  children,  seeing 
Brousson's  feet  under  the  door,  one  of  them  ran  after 
the  officer  of  the  party,  and  exclaimed  to  him,  pointing 
back,  "  Here,  sir,  here  ! "  But  the  officer,  not  under- 
standing what  the  child  meant,  went  away  with  his 
soldiers,  and  Brousson's  life  was,  for  the  time,  saved. 

The  same  evening,  Brousson  changed  his  disguise  to 
that  of  a  wool-comber,  and  carrying  a  parcel  on  bis 
shoulder,  he  set  out  on  the  same  evening  with  another 
guide.  He  visited  many  places  in  which  Protestants 
were  to  be  found — in  Champagne,  Picardy,  Normandy, 
Nevernois,  and  Burgundj'-.  He  also  visited  several  of 
his  friends  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris. 

We  have  not  many  details  of  his  perils  and  experi- 
ences during  his  journey.  But  the  following  passage 
is  extracted  from  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  a  friend 
in  Holland  :  "  I  assure  you  that  in  every  place  through 
which  I  passed,  I  witnessed  the  poor  pcoj^le  truly 
repenting  their  fault  {i.e.  of  having  gone  to  Mass), 
weeping  daV  and  night,  and  imploring  the  grace  and 
consolations  of  the  Gospel  in  their  distress.  Their 
persecutors  daily  oppress  them,  and  burden  them  with 
taxes  and  imposts;  but  the  more  discerning  of  the 
Koman  Catholics  acknowledge  that  the  cruelties  and 
injustice  done  towards  so  many  innocent  persons,  draw 
down  misery  and  distress  upon  the  kingdom.  And 
truly  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  God  will  abandon  its 
inhabitants  to  their  wickedness,  that  he  may  afterwards 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  67 

pour  down  liis  most  terrible  judgments  upon  that 
ungrateful  and  vaunting  country,  whicli  has  rejected 
his  truth  and  despised  the  day  of  visitation." 

During  the  twelve  months  that  Brousson  was  occupied 
with  his  ]Derilous  journey  through  France,  two  more  of 
his  friends  in  the  Cevennes  suffered  martyrdom — La 
Porte  on  the  7th  of  February,  1696,  and  Henri  Gruerin 
on  the  22nd  of  June  following.  Both  were  broken 
alive  on  the  wheel  before  receiving  the  coup  de  grace. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  Brousson  arrived  at 
Basle,  from  whence  he  proceeded  to  visit  his  friends 
throughout  the  cantons  of  Switzerland,  and  then  he 
returned  to  Holland  by  way  of  the  Ehine,  to  rejoin  his 
family  at  the  Hague. 

At  that  time,  the  representatives  of  the  Allies  were 
meeting  at  By s wick  the  rej)resentatives  of  Louis  XIY., 
who  was  desirous  of  peace.  Brousson  and  the  French 
refugee  ministers  resident  in  Holland  endeavoured  to 
bring  the  persecutions  of  the  French  Protestants  under 
the  notice  of  the  Conference.  But  Louis  XIY.  would 
not  brook  this  interference.  He  proposed  going  on 
dealing  with  the  heretics  in  his  own  w^aj^  *'  I  do  not 
pretend,"  he  said,  "  to  prescribe  to  William  III.  rules 
about  his  subjects,  and  I  expect  the  same  liberty  as 
to  my  own." 

Finding  it  impossible  to  obtain  redress  for  his  fellow- 
countrymen  under  the  treaty  of  Byswick,  which  was 
shortly  after  concluded,  Brousson  at  length  prepared  to 
make  his  third  journey  into  France  in  the  month  of 
August  1697.  He  set  out  greatly  to  the  regret  of  his 
wife,  who  feared  it  might  be  his  last  journey,  as  indeed 
it  proved  to  be.  In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  console 
her,  from  some  remote  place  where  he  was  snowed  np 
about  the  middle  of  the  following  December,  he  said  : 

6 


68  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

*'  1  cannot  at  present  enter  into  the  details  of  the  work 
the  Lord  has  given  me  grace  to  lahonr  in  ;  but  it  is  the* 
source  of  much  consolation  to  a  large  number  of  his 
poor  people.  It  will  be  expedient  that  you  do  not 
mention  where  I  am,  lest  I  should  be  traced.  It  may 
be  that  I  cannot  for  some  time  write  to  you  ;  but  I 
walk  under  the  conduct  of  my  God,  and  I  repeat  that  I 
would  not  for  millions  of  money  that  the  Lord  should 
refuse  me  the  grace  which  renders  it  imperative  for  me 
to  labour  as  I  now  do  in  His  work."* 

When  the  snow  had  melted  sufficiently  to  enable 
Brousson  to  escape  from  the  district  of  Dauphiny, 
near  the  High  Alps,  where  he  had  been  coilcealed, 
he  made  his  way  across  the  country  to  the  Yiverais, 
whore  he  laboured  for  some  time.  Here  he  heard  of 
the  martyrdom  of  the  third  of  the  brothers  Du  Plans, 
broken  on  the  wheel  and  executed  like  the  others  on 
the  Peyrou  at  Montpellier. 

During  the  next  nine  months,  Brousson  laboured  in 
the  north-eastern  provinces  of  Languedoc  (more  par- 
ticularly in.  the  Cevennes  and  Yiverais),  Orange,  and 
Dauphiny.  He  excited  so  much  interest  amongst  the 
Protestants,  who  resorted  from  a  great  distance  to 
attend  his  assemblies,  that  the  spies  (who  were  usually 
pretended  Protestants)  soon  knew  of  his  presence  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  information  was  at  once  for- 
warded to  the  Intendant  or  his  officers. 

Persecution  was  growing  very  bitter  about  this  time. 
By  orders  of  the  bishops  the  Protestants  were  led  by 
force  to  Mass  before  the  dragoons  with  drawn  swords, 
and  the  shops  of  merchants  who  refused  to  go  to  Mass 

*  The  following  ^^■a3  the  portraiture  of  Brousson,  issued  to  the 
spies  and  police  :  "  Brousson  is  of  middle  stature,  and  rather  spare, 
aged  forty  to  forty-two,  nose  large,  complexion  dark,  hair  hlack, 
hands  Well  formed." 


CLAUDE  B  ROUS  SON,  69 

regularly  were  ordered  to  be  closed.  Their  liouses  were 
also  filled  with  soldiers.  "  The  soldiers  or  militia," 
said  Brousson  to  a  friend  in  HoUan-d,  ''frequently 
commit  horrible  ravages,  breaking  open  the  cabinets, 
removing  every  article  that  is  saleable,  which  are  often 
purchased  by  the  priests  at  insignificant  prices ;  the 
rest  they  burn  and  break  up,  after  which  the  soldiers 
are  removed ;  and  when  the  sufferers  think  themselves 
restored  to  peace,  fresh  billets  are  ordered  upon  them. 
Many  are  consequently  induced  to  go  to  Mass  with 
weeping  and  lamentation,  but  a  great  number  remain 
inflexible,  and  others  fly  the  kingdom." 

When  it  became  known  that  Brousson,  in  the  course 
of  his  journey  in  gs,  had  arrived,  about  the  end  of  August, 
1698,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nismes,  Baville  was 
greatly  mortified ;  and  he  at  once  ofiered  a  reward  of  six 
hundred  louis  d'or  for  his  head.  Brousson  nevertheless 
entered  Nismes,  and  found  refuge  amongst  his  friends. 
He  had,  however,  the  imprudence  to  post  there  a 
petition  to  the  King,  signed  by  his  own  hand,  which 
had  the  effect  of  at  once  setting  the  spies  upon  his 
track.  Leaving  the  city  itself,  he  took  refuge  in  a 
house  not  far  from  it,  whither  the  spies  contrived  to 
trace  him,  and  gave  the  requisite  information  to  the 
Intendant.  The  house  was  soon  after  surrounded 
by  soldiers,  and  was  itself  entered  and  completely 
searched. 

Brousson's  host  had  only  had  time  to  make  him  descend 
into  a  well,  which  had  a  niche  in  the  bottom  in  which 
he  could  conceal  himself.  The  soldiers  looked  down  the 
well  a  dozen  times,  but  could  see  nothing.  Brousson 
was  not  in  the  house ,  he  was  not  in  the  chimneys  ; 
he  was  not  in  the  outhouses.  He  must  be  in  the  well ! 
A  soldier  went   down  the  well   to  make  'a   personal 


70  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

examination.  He  was  let  down  close  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  and  felt  all  about.  There  was 
nothing  !  Feeling  awfully  cold,  and  wishing  to  be 
taken  out,  he  called  to  his  friends,  ''  There  is  nothing 
here,  pull  me  u.p."  He  was  pulled  up  accordingly, 
and  Brousson  was  again  saved. 

The  country  about  Nismes  being  beset  with  spies  to 
track  the  Protestants  and  prevent  their  meetings, 
Brousson  determined  to  go  westward  and  visit  the 
scattered  people  in  Bouerge,  Pays  de  Foix,  and  Bigorre, 
proceeding  as  far  as  Beam,  where  a  remnant  of 
Huguenots  still  lingered,  notwithstanding  the  repeated 
dragooning  to  which  the  district  had  been  subjected.  It 
was  at  Oberon  that  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  spy,  who 
bore  the  same  name  as  a  Protestant  friend  to  whom  his 
letter  was  addressed.  Information  was  given  to  the 
authorities,  and  Brousson  was  arrested.  He  made  no 
resistance,  and  answered  at  once  to  his  name. 

When  the  Judas  who  had  betrayed  him  went  to  M. 
Penon,  the  intendant  of  the  province,  to  demand  the 
reward  set  upon  Brousson's  head,  the  Intendant  replied 
with  indignation,  ''  Wretch  !  don't  you  blush  to  look 
upon  the  man  in  whose  blood  you  traffic  ?  Begone  !  I 
cannot  bear  your  presence !  " 

Brousson  was  sent  to  Pau,  where  he  was  imprisoned 
in  the  castle  of  Foix,  at  one  time  the  centre  of  the 
Peformation  movement  in  the  South  of  France — where 
Calvin  had  preached,  where  Jeanne  d'Albret  had  lived, 
and  where  Henry  lY.  had  been  born. 

From  Pau,  Brousson  was  sent  to  JMontpellier, 
escorted  by  dragoons.  At  Toulouse  the  party  took 
passage  by  the  canal  of  Languedoc,  which  had  then 
been  shortly  open.  At  Somail,  during  the  night, 
Brousson  saw   that  all  the  soldiers  were  asleep.     He 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  71 

had  but  to  step  on  shore  to  regain  his  liberty ;  but 
he  had  promised  to  the  Intendant  of  Learn,  who  had 
allowed  him  to  go  unfettered,  that  he  would  not 
attempt  to  escape.  At  Agade  there  was  a  detachment 
of  a  hundred  soldiers,  ready  to  convey  the  prisoner 
to  Baville,  Intendant  of  Languedoc.  He  was  im- 
prisoned in  the  citadel  of  Montpellier,  on  the  30th 
October,  1698. 

Baville,  who  knew  much  of  the  character  of  Brous- 
son — ^his  peacefulness,  his  piety,  his  self-sacrifice,  and 
his  noble  magnanimity-: — is  said  to  have  observed  on 
one  occasion,  "  I  would  not  for  a  world  have  to  judge 
that  man.''  And  yet  the  time  had  now  arrived  when 
Brousson  was  to  be  judged  and  condemned  by  Baville 
and  the  Presidial  Court.  The  trial  was  a  farce, 
because  it  had  been  predetermined  that  Brousson 
should  die.  He  was  charged  with  preaching  in 
France  contrary  to  the  King's  prohibition.  This  he 
admitted  ;  but  when  asked  to  whom  he  had  administered 
the  Sacrament,  he  positively  refused  to  disclose,  because 
he  was  neither  a  traitor  nor  informer  to  accuse  his 
brethren.  He  was  also  charged  with  having  conspired 
to  introduce  a  foreign  army  into  France  under  the  com- 
mand of  Marshal  Schomberg.  This  he  declared  to 
be  absolutely  false,  for  he  had  throughout  his  career 
been  a  man  of  peace,  and  sought  to  bring  back  Christ's 
followers  by  peaceful  means  only. 

His  defence  was  of  no  avail.  He  was  condemned  to 
be  racked,  then  to  be  broken  on  the  wheel,  and  after- 
wards to  be  executed.  He  received  the  sentence 
without  a  shudder.  He  was  tied  on  the  rack,  but  when 
he  refused  to  accuse  his  brethren  he  was  released  from 
it.  xittempts  were  made  by  several  priests  and  friars 
to  add  him  to  the  number  of  "  new  converts,"  but  these 


72  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

were  altogether  fruitless.  All  tliat  remained  was  to 
execute  him  finally  on  the  public  place  of  execution — 
the  Peyrou. 

The  Peyrou  is  the  pride  of  modern  Montpellier.  It 
is  the  favourite  promenade  of  the  place,  and  is  one  of 
the  finest  in  Europe.  It  consists  of  a  broad  platform 
elevated  high  above  the  rest  of  the  town,  and  command- 
ing extensive  views  of  the  surrounding  country.  In 
clear  weather,  Mont  Yentoux,  one  of  the  Alpine  sum- 
mits, may  be  seen  across  the  broad  valley  of  the  Phone 
on  the  east,  and  the  j^eak  of  Mont  Canizou  in  the 
Pja^enees  on  the  west.  JSTorthward  stretches  the  moun- 
tain range  of  the  Cevennes,  the  bold  Pic  de  Saint- Loup 
the  advanced  sentinel  of  the  group ;  while  in  the 
south  the  prospect  is  bounded  by  the  blue  line  of  the 
Mediterranean. 

The  Peyrou  is  now  pleasantly  laid  out  in  terraced 
walks  and  shady  groves,  with  gay  parterres  of  flowers 
— the  upper  platform  being  surrounded  with  a  handsome 
stone  balustrade.  An  equestrian  statue  of  Louis  XIY. 
occupies  the  centre  of  the  area ;  and  a  triumjphal  arch 
stands  at  the  entrance  to  the  promenade,  erected  to 
commemorate  the  ''  glories  "  of  the  same  monarch,  more 
particularly  the  Pevocation  by  him  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes — one  of  the  entablatures  of  the  arch  displaying 
a  hideous  figure,  intended  to  represent  a  Huguenot, 
lying  trampled  under  foot  of  the  "  Most  Christian 
King.'' 

The  Peyrou  was  thus  laid  out  and  ornamented  in 
the  reign  of  his  successor,  Louis  XY.,  ''  the  AYell- 
beloved,"  during  which  the  same  policy  for  which 
Louis  XIY.  was  here  glorified  by  an  equestrian  statue 
and  a  triumphal  arch  continued  to  be  persevered  in — 
of  imprisoning,  banishing,  hanging,  or  sending  to  the 


CLAUDE  BROUSSON.  73 

gallej's  such,  of  the  citizens  of  France  as  were  not  of 
"  the  King's  religion." 

But  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIY.  himself,  the 
Peyrou  was  anything  but  a  pleasure-ground.  It  was 
the  inflimous  place  of  the  city — the  place  de  Greve — a 
desert,  barren,  blasted  table- land,  where  sometimes 
half-a-dozen  decaying  corpses  might  be  seen  swinging 
from  the  gibbets  on  wliich  they  had  been  hung.  It 
was  specially  reserved,  because  of  its  infamy,  for  the 
execution  of  heretics  against  Eome  ;  and  here,  accord- 
ingly, hundreds  of  Huguenot  martyrs — whom  power, 
honour,  and  wealth  failed  to  bribe  or  to  convert 
— were  called  upon  to  seal  their  faith  with  their 
blood. 

Brousson  was  executed  at  this  place  on  the  4th  of 
November,  1698.  It  was  towards  evening,  while  the 
sun  was  slowly  sinking  behind  the  western  mountains, 
that  an  immense  multitude  assembled  on  the  Peyrou  to 
witness  the  martyrdom  of  the  devoted  pastor.  Not 
fewer  than  twenty  thousand  persons  were  there,  includ- 
ing the  principal  nobility  of  the  city  and  province, 
besides  many  inhabitants  of  the  adjoining  mountain 
district  of  the  Cevennes,  some  of  whom  had  come  from 
a  great  distance  to  be  present.  In  the  centre  of  the 
plateau,  near  where  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  great 
King  now  stands,  was  a  scaffold,  strongly  surrounded 
by  troops  to  keep  off  the  crowd.  Two  battalions,  drawn 
up  in  two  lines  facing  each  other,  formed  an  avenue  of 
bayonets  between  the  citadel,  near  at  hand,  and  the 
place  of  execution. 

A  commotion  stirred  the  throng ;  and  the  object  of 
the  breathless  interest  excited  shortly  appeared  in  the 
person  of  a  middle-sized,  middle-aged  man,  spare,  grave, 
and  dignified  in  appearance,  dressed  in  the  ordinary 


74  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

garb  of  a  pastor,  who  walked  slowly  towards  the  scaffold, 
engaged  in  earnest  prayer,  bis  eyes  and  bands  lifted 
towards  beaven.  On  mounting  tbe  platform,  be  stood 
forward  to  say  a  few  last  words  to  tbe  people,  and  give 
to  many  of  bis  friends,  wbom  be  knew  to  be  in  tbe 
crowd,  bis  parting  benediction.  But  bis  voice  was 
instantly  stifled  by  tbe  roll  of  twenty  drums,  wbicb 
continued  to  beat  a  quick  marcb  until  tbe  bideous 
ceremony  was  over,  and  tbe  martyr,  Claude  Brousson, 
bad  ceased  to  live.* 

Strange  are  tbe  vicissitudes  of  buman  affairs  !  Not 
a  hundred  years  passed  after  this  event,  before  the 
great  grandson  of  the  monarch,  at  whose  instance 
Brousson  bad  laid  down  his  life,  appeared  upon  a 
scaffold  in  the  Place  Louis  XIY.  in  Paris,  and  implored 
permission  to  say  his  few  last  words  to  the  people.  In 
vain !  His  voice  was  drowned  by  the  drums  of  San- 
terre ! 

*  The  only  favour  which  Brousson's  judges  showed  him  at  death 
was  as  regarded  the  manner  of  carrying  his  sentence  into  execution. 
He  was  condemned  to  he  broken  alive  on  the  wheel,  and  then 
strangled ;  whereas  by  special  favour  the  sentence  was  commuted 
into  strangulation  first  and  the  breaking  of  his  bones  afterwards. 
So  that  while  Brousson's  impassive  body  remained  with  his  per- 
secutors to  be  broken,  his  pure  unconquered  spirit  mounted  in 
triumph  towards  heaven. 


CHAPTER  y 

OUTBREAK    IN    LIXGUEDOC. 

A  LTHOUGH  tlie  arbitrary  measures  of  tlie  King  were 
-^^  felt  all  over  France,  they  nowhere  excited  more 
dismay  and  consternation  tlian  in  the  province  of  Lan- 
guedoc.  This  province  had  always  been  inhabited  by  a 
spirited  and  energetic  people,  born  lovers  of  liberty. 
They  were  among  the  earliest  to  call  in  question  the 
despotic  authority  over  mind  and  conscience  claimed  by 
the  see  of  Rome.  The  country  is  sown  with  the  ashes 
of  martyrs.  Long  before  the  execution  of  Brousson, 
the  Peyrou  at  Montpellier  had  been  the  Calvary  of  the 
South  of  France. 

As  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  the  Albigenses, 
who  inhabited  the  district,  excited  the  wrath  of  the 
Popes.  Simple,  sincere  believers  in  the  Divine  pro- 
vidence, they  rejected  Rome,  and  took  their  stand  upon 
the  individual  responsibility  of  man  to  God.  Count  de 
Foix  said  to  the  legate  of  Innocent  III. :  "  As  to  my 
religion,  the  Pope  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Every 
man's  conscience  must  be  free.  My  father  has  always 
recommended  to  me  this  liberty,  and  I  am  content  to 
die  for  it.'' 

A  crusade  was  waged  against  the  Albigenses,  which 
lasted  for  a  period  of  about  sixty  years.     Armies  were 


76  T'HE  HUGUENOTS. 

concent  rate  1  upon  Languecloc,  and  after  great  slaugliter 
tlie  heretics  were  supposed  to  be  exterminated. 

But  enough  of  the  people  survived  to  perpetuate  the 
love  of  liberty  in  their  descendants,  who  continued  to 
(  xercis3  a  degree  of  indej^endence  in  matters  of  religion 
and  politics  almost  unknown  in  other  parts  of  France. 
Languedoc  was  the  principal  stronghold  of  the  Hugue- 
nots in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  ;  and 
when,  in  1685,  Louis  XIV.  revoked  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  which  interdicted  freedom  of  worshij)  under 
penalty  of  confiscation,  banishment,  and  death,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  such  a  policy  should  have  occasioned 
widespread  consternation,  if  not  hostility  and  oj^en 
resistance. 

At  the  period  of  the  Eevocation  there  were^  accord- 
ing to  the  Intendant  of  the  province,  not  fewer  than 
250,000  Protestants  in  Languedoc,  and  these  formed 
the  most  skilled,  industrious,  enterprising,  and  wealthy 
portion  of  the  communit3\  They  were  the  best  farmers, 
vine-dressers,  manufacturers,  and  traders.  The  valley 
of  Vaunage,  lying  to  the  westward  of  Nismes,  was  one 
of  the  richest  and  most  highly  cultivated  parts  of  France. 
It  contained  more  than  sixty  temples,  its  population 
being  almost  exclusively  Protestant ;  and  it  was  known 
as  "  The  Little  Canaan,"  abounding  as  it  did  in  corn, 
and  wine,  and  oil. 

The  greater  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  South  of 
France  was  conducted  by  the  Protestant  merchants  of 
Nismes,  of  whom  the  Intendant  wrote  to  the  King  in 
1699,  *'  If  they  are  still  bad  Catholics,  at  any  rate  they 
have  not  ceased  to  be  ver}^  good  traders." 

The  Marquis  d'Aguesseau  bore  similar  testimony  to 
the  intelligent  industry  of  the  Huguenot  population. 
"By  an  unfortunate  fatality,"  said  he,  "in  nearly  every 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC,  77 

kind  of  art  tlie  most  skilful  workmen,  as  well  as  the 
richest  merchants,  belong  to  the  pretended  reformed 
religion." 

The  Marquis,  who  governed  Languedoc  for  many 
years,  was  further  of  opinion  that  the  intelligence  of 
the  Protestants  was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  in- 
structions of  their  pastors.  ''It  is  certain,"  said  he, 
"  that  one  of  the  things  which  holds  the  Huguenots  to 
their  religion  is  the  amount  of  information  which  they 
receive  from  their  instructors,  and  which  it  is  not 
thought  necessary  to  give  in  ours.  The  Huguenots 
will  be  instructed,  and  it  is  a  general  complaint 
amongst  the  new  converts  not  to  find  in  our  religion 
the  same  mental  and  moral  discipline  they  find  in  their 
own." 

BaviHe,  the  intendant,  made  an  observation  to  a 
similar  effect  in  a  confidential  communication  which  he 
made  to  the  authorities  at  Paris  in  1697,  in  which  he 
boasted  that  the  Protestants  had  now  all  been  con-  • 
verted,  and  that  there  were  198,483  new  converts  in 
Languedoc.  "  Generally  speaking,"  he  said,  "  the  new 
converts  are  much  better  off,  being  more  laborious  and 
industrious  than  the  old  Catholics  of  the  province. 
The  new  converts  must  not  bo  regarded  as  Catholics ; 
they  almost  all  preserve  in  their  heart  their  attach- 
ment to  their  former  religion.  They  may  confess  and 
communicate  as  much  as  you  will,  because  they  are 
menaced  and  forced  to  do  so  by  the  secular  power. 
But  this  only  leads  to  sacrilege.  To  gain  them,  their 
hearts  must  he  won.  It  is  there  that  religion  resides, 
and  it  can  only  be  solely  established  by  efiecting  that 
conquest." 

From  the  number,  as  well  as  the  wealth  and  educa- 
tion,  of  the  Protestants  of  Languedoc,  it  is  reasonabel 


78  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

to  suppose  that  the  emigration  from  this  quarter  of 
France  should  have  been  very  considerable  during  the 
persecutions  which  followed  the  Kevocation.  Of  course 
nearly  all  the  pastors  fled,  death  being  their  punish- 
ment if  they  remained  in  France.  Hence  many  of  the 
most  celebrated  French  preachers  in  Holland,  Germany, 
and  England  were  pastors  banished  from  Languedoc. 
Claude  and  Saurin  both  belonged  to  the  province ;  and 
among  the  London  preachers  were  the  Dubourdieus, 
the  Bertheaus,  Graverol,  and  Pegorier. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  find  how  many  of  the  distin- 
guished Huguenots  who  settled  in  England  came  from 
Languedoc.  The  Romillys  and  Layards  came  from  Mont- 
pellier ;  the  Saurins  from  Nismes ;  the  Gaussens  from 
Lunel ;  and  the  Bosanquets  from  Caila  ;  *  besides  the 
Auriols,  Arnauds,  Pechels,  De  Beauvoirs,  Durands, 
Portals,  Boileaus,  D'Albiacs,  D'Oliers,  Pious,  and  Vig- 
noles,  all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  Huguenot  landed 
gentry  of  Languedoc,  who  fled  and  sacrificed  everything 
rather  than  conform  to  the  religion  of  Louis  XIY. 

When  Brousson  was  executed  at  Montpellier,  it  was 
believed  that  Protestantism  was  finally  dead.  At  all 
events,  it  was  supposed  that  those  of  the  Protestants  who 
remained,  without  becoming  converted,  were  at  length 
reduced  to  utter  powerlessness.  It  was  not  believed 
that  the  smouldering  ashes  contained  any  sparks  that 
might  yet  be  fanned  into  flames.  The  Huguenot 
landed  proprietors,  the  principal  manufacturers,  the 
best  of  the  artisans,  had  left  for  other  countries.  Pro- 
testantism  was   now   entirely   without  leaders.     The 

*  There  are  still  Gaussens  at  St.  Mamert,  in  the  deparlment  of 
Gard;  and  some  of  the  Bosanquet  family  must  have  remained  on  their 
estates  or  returned  to  Protestantism,  as  we  find  a  Bosanquet  of  Caila 
broken  alive  at  Kismes,  because  of  his  religion,  on  the  7lh  September, 
1702,  after  which  his  corpse  was  publicly  exposed  on  the  Montpellier 
high  road. 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  79 

very  existence  of  Protestantism  in  any  form  was  denied 
by  the  law ;  and  it  might  perhaps  reasonably  have  been 
expected  that,  being  thus  crushed  out  of  sight,  it  would 
die. 

But  there  still  remained  another  important  and  vital 
element — the  common  people — the  peasants,  the  small 
farmers,  the  artisans,  and  labouring  classes — persons  of 
slender  means,  for  the  most  part  too  poor  to  emigrate, 
and  who  remained,  as  it  were,  rooted  to  the  soil  on 
which  they  had  been  born.  This  was  especially  the 
case  in  the  Cevennes,  where,  in  many  of  the  communes, 
almost  the  entire  inhabitants  were  Protestants ;  in 
others,  they  formed  a  large  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion ;  while  in  all  the  larger  towns  and  villages  they 
were  very  numerous,  as  well  as  widely  spread  over  the 
whole  province. 

The  mountainous  district  of  the  Cevennes  is  the  most 
rugged,  broken,  and  elevated  region  in  the  South  of 
France.  It  fills  the  department  of  Lozere,  as  well  as 
the  greater  part  of  Gard  and  Herault.  The  principal 
mountain- chain,  about  a  hundred  leagues  in  length,  imns 
from  north-east  to  south-west,  and  may  almost  be  said 
to  unite  the  Alps  with  the  Pyrenees.  From  the  centre 
of  France  the  surface  rises  with  a  gradual  slope,  forming 
an  inclined  plane,  which  reaches  its  greatest  height  in 
the  Cevennic  chain,  several  of  the  summits  of  which 
are  about  five  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea 
level.  Its  connection  with  the  Al23ine  ]'ange  is,  how- 
ever, broken  abruptly  by  the  deep  valley  of  the  Rhone, 
running  nearly  due  north  and  south. 

The  whole  of  this  mountain  district  may  be  regarded 
as  a  triangular  plateau  rising  graduall}^  from  the  north- 
west, and  tilted  up  at  its  south-eastern  angle.     It  is 


/-. 


8o  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

composed  for  the  most  part  of  granite,  overlapped  by- 
strata  belonging  to  tlie  Jurassic-system ;  and  in  many 
places,  especially  in  Auvergne,  the  granitic  rocks  have 
been  burst  through  by  volcanoes,  long  since  extinct, 
which  rise  like  enormous  protuberances  from  the 
higher  parts  of  the  platform.  Towards  the  southern 
border  of  the  district,  the  limestone  strata  overlapping 
the  granite  assume  a  remarkable  development,  exhibit- 
ing a  series  of  flat-topped  hills  bounded  by  perpen- 
dicular cliffs  some  six  or  eight  hundred  feet  high. 

"  These  plateaux,"  says  Mr.  Scrope,  in  his  interest- 
ing account  of  the  geology  of  Central  France,  ''are 
called  '  causses '  in  the  provincial  dialect,  and  they  have 
a  singularly  drear}'  and  desert  aspect  from  the  monotony 
of  their  form  and  their  barren  and  rocky  character. 
The  valleys  which  separate  them  are  rarely  of  con- 
siderable width.  Winding,  narrow,  and  all  but  im- 
passable clift-like  glens  predominate,  giving  to  the 
Cevennes  that  peculiarly  intricate  character  which  en- 
abled its  Protestant  inhabitants,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century,  to  offer  so  stubborn  and  gallant  a  re- 
sistance to  the  atrocious  persecutions  of  Louis  XIV." 

Such  being  the  character  of  this  mountain  district — 
rocky,  elevated,  and  sterile — the  people  inhabiting  it, 
though  exceedingly  industrious,  are  for  the  most  very 
poor.  Sheep-farming  is  the  principal  occupation  of  the 
people  of  the  hill  coimtry  ;  and  in  the  summer  season, 
when  the  loAver  districts  are  parched  with  drought,  tens 
of  thousands  of  sheep  may  be  seen  covering  the  roads 
leading  to  the  Upper  Cevennes,  whither  they  are  driven 
for  pasture.  There  is  a  comparatively  small  breadth 
of  arable  land  in  the  district.  The  mountains  in  many 
places  contain  only  soil  enough  to  grow  junij)er- bushes. 
There  is  very  little  verdure  to  relieve  the  eye — few 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  8i 

turf-clad  slopes  or  earth-coYered  ledges  to  repay  tlie 
tillage  of  the  farmer.  Even  the  mountains  of  lower 
elevation  are  for  the  most  part  stony  deserts.  Chest- 
nut-trees, it  is  true,  grow  luxuriantly  in  the  sheltered 
places,  and  occasionally  scanty  crops  of  rye  on  the 
lower  mountain-sides.  Mulberry-trees  also  thrive  in 
the  valleys,  their  leaves  being  used  for  the  feeding  of 
silkworms,  the  rearing  of  which  forms  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal industries  of  the  district. 

Even  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Nismes — a 
rich  and  beautiful  town,  abounding  in  Roman  remains, 
which  exhibit  ample  cAadences  of  its  ancient  grandeur 
— the  country  is  arid,  stony,  and  barren-looking,  though 
here  the  vine,  the  olive,  and  the  fig-tree,  wherever 
there  is  soil  enough,  grow  luxuriantly  in  the  open  air. 
Indeed,  the  country  very  much  resembles  in  its  charac- 
ter the  land  of  Judea,  being  rocky,  parched,  and  in 
many  places  waste,  though  in  others  abounding  in  corn 
and  wine  and  oil.  In  the  interior  parts  of  the  district 
the  scenery  is  wild  and  grand,  especially  in  the  valleys 
lying  under  the  lofty  mountain  of  Lozere.  But  the 
rocks  and  stones  are  everywhere  in  the  ascendant. 

A  few  years  ago  we  visited  the  district ;  and  while 
proceeding  in  the  old-fashioned  diligence  which  runs 
between  Alais  and  Florae — for  the  district  is  altogether 
beyond  the  reach  of  railways — a  French  contractor, 
accompanying  a  band  of  Italian  miners,  whom  he  was 
taking  into  the  mountains  to  search  for  minerals,  point- 
ing to  the  sterile  rocks,  exclaimed  to  us,  ''  Messieurs, 
behold  the  very  poorest  district  in  France  !  It  con- 
tains nothing  but  juniper-bushes  !  As  for  its  agricul- 
ture, it  produces  nothing ;  manufactures,  nothing ; 
commerce,  nothing!     Rien^  rien,  rien!" 

The  observation  of  this  French  entrepreneur  reminds 


82  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

us  of  an  anecdote  tLat  Telford,  the  Scotch  engineer,  used 
to  relate  of  a  countryman  with  reference  to  his  appre- 
ciation of  Scotch  mountain  beauty.  An  English  artist, 
enraptured  by  the  scenery  of  Ben  MacDhui,  "was  ex- 
patiating on  its  magnificence,  and  appealed  to  the 
native  guide  for  cdnfirmiation  of  his  news.  "  I  dinna 
ken  aboot  the  scenery,"  replied  the  man,  ''  but  there's 
plenty  o'  big  rocks  and  stanes ;  an'  the  kintra's  awfu' 
puir."  The  same  observation  might  doubtless  apply  to 
the  Cevennes.  Tet,  though  the  people  may  be  poor, 
they  are  not  miserable  or  destitute,  for  they  are  all 
well-clad  and  respectable-looking  peasants,  and  there 
is  not  a  beggar  to  be  seen  in  the  district. 

But  the  one. country,  as  the  other,  grows  strong  and 
brave  men.  These  barren  mountain  districts  of  the 
Cevennes  have  bred  a  race  of  heroes  ;  and  the  men  are 
as  simple  and  kind  as  they  are  brave.  Hospitality  is  a 
characteristic  of  the  people,  which  never  fails  to  striko 
the  visitor  accustomed  to  the  exactions  which  are  so 
common  along  the  hackneyed  tourist  routes. 

As  in  other  parts  of  France,  the  peasantry  here  are 
laborious  almost  to  excess.  Robust  and  hardy,  they 
are  distinguished  for  their  perseverance  against  the 
obstacles  which  nature  constantly  opposes  to  them. 
Out-door  industry  being  suspended  in  winter,  during 
which  they  are  shut  up  in  their  cabins  for  nearly  six 
months  by  the  ice  and  snow,  they  occupy  themselves 
in  preparing  their  wool  for  manufacture  into  cloth. 
The  women  card,  the  children  spin,  the  men  weave  ;  and 
each  cottage  is  a  little  manufactory  of  drugget  and 
serge,  which  is  taken  to  market  in  spring,  and  sold  in 
the  low-country  towns.  Such  was  the  industry  of  the 
Cevennes  nearly  two  hundred  years  since,  and  such  it 
remains  to  the  present  day. 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  83 

The  people  are  of  a  contented  nature,  and  bear  tlieir 
poverty  with  cheerfulness  and  even  dignity.  While 
they  partake  ot'  the  ardour  and  strong  temper  which 
characterize  the  inhabitants  of  the  South  of  France, 
they  are  probably,  on  the  wholc;  more  grave  and  staid 
than  Frenchmen  generally,  and  are  thought  to  be  more 
urbane  and  intelligent ;  and  though  they  are  un- 
manageable by  force,  they  are  remarkably  accessible  to 
kindess  and  moral  suasion. 

Such,  in  a  few  words,  are  the  more  prominent  charac- 
teristics of  the  country  and  people  of  the  Cevennes. 

When  the  popular  worship  of  the  mountain  district 
of  Languedoc — in  which  the  Protestants  constituted  the 
majority  of  the  population — was  suppressed,  great  dis- 
may fell  upon  the  people ;  but  they  made  no  signs  of 
resistance  to  the  royal  authority.  For  a  time  they  re- 
mained comparatively  passive,  and  it  was  at  first 
thought  they  were  indifferent.  Their  astonished 
enemies  derisively  spoke  of  them  as  displaying  ''  the 
patience  of  a  Huguenot," — the  words  having  passed 
into  a  proverb. 

But  their  persecutors  did  not  know  the  stuflP  of  which 
these  mountaineers  were  made.  They  had  seen  their 
temples  demolished  one  after  another,  and  their  pastors 
banished,  leaving  them  "  like  poor  starved  sheep  look- 
ing for  the  pasture  of  life."  Next  they  heard  that  such 
of  their  pastors  as  had  been  apprehended  for  venturing 
to  minister  to  them  in  "  the  Desert"  had  been  taken  to 
Nismes  and  Montpellier  and  hanged.  Then  they  began 
to  feel  excited  and  indignant.  For  they  could  not 
shake  off  their  own  belief  and  embrace  another  man's, 
even  though  that  man  was  their  king.  If  Louis  XI Y. 
had  ordered  them  to  believe  that  two  and  two  make 

7 


84  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

six,  they  could  not  possibly  believe,  tbougli  tbey  migbt 
pretend  to  do  so,  that  it  made  any  otber  number  than 
four.  And  so  it  was  with  the  King's  order  to  tbem  to 
profess  a  faith  which  they  could  not  bring  their  minds 
to  believe  in. 

These  poor  people  entertained  the  conviction  that 
they  possessed  certain  paramount  rights  as  men.  Of 
these  they  held  the  right  of  conscience  to  be  one  of  the 
principal.  They  were  willing  to  give  unto  CaDsar  the 
things  that  were  Ca3sar's ;  but  they  could  not  give  him 
those  which  belonged  unto  God.  And  if  they  were 
forced  to  make  a  choice,  then  they  must  rather  disobey 
their  King  than  the  King  of  kings. 

Though  deprived  of  their  leaders  and  pastors,  the 
dispossessed  Huguenots  emerged  by  degrees  from  their 
obscurity,  and  began  to  recognise  each  other  openl3\ 
If  their  temples  were  destroyed,  there  remained  the 
woods  and  fields  and  moimtain  pastures,  where  they 
might  still  meet  and  worship  God,  even  tbough  it  were 
in  defiance  of  the  law.  Having  taken  counsel  together, 
they  resolved  "  not  to  forsake  the  assembling  of  them- 
selves together  ;  "  and  they  proceeded,  in  all  the  Pro- 
testant districts  in  the  South  of  France — in  Yiverais, 
Dauphiny,  and  the  Cevennes — to  hold  meetings  of  the 
people,  mostly  by  night,  for  worship — in  woods,  in 
caves,  in  rocky  gorges,  and  in  hollows  of  the  hills. 
Then  began  those  famous  assemblies  of  "the  Desert,'* 
which  were  the  nightmare  of  Louvois  and  the  horror  of 
Louis  XIV. 

When  it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  authorities 
that  such  meetings  were  being  held,  large  bodies  of 
troops  were  sent  into  the  southern  provinces,  with  orders 
to  disperse  them  and  apprehend  the  ringleaders.  These 
orders  were  carried  out  with  much  barbarity.  Amongst 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC,  85 

various  assemblies  wliicli  were  discovered  and  attacked 
in  the  Cevennes,  were  those  of  Auduze  and  Vigan, 
where  the  soldiers  fell  upon  the  defenceless  people,  put 
the  greater  number  to  the  sword,  and  hanged  upon  the 
nearest  trees  those  who  did  not  succeed  in  making  their 
escape. 

The  authorities  waited  to  see  the  effect  of  these 
"  vigorous  measures  ;  "  but  they  were  egregiously  dis- 
appointed. The  meetings  in  the  Desert  went  on  as 
before,  and  even  increased  in  number.  Then  milder 
means  were  tried.  Other  meetings  were  attacked  in 
like  manner,  and  the  people  found  attending  them  taken 
prisoners.  They  were  then  threatened  with  death 
unless  they  became  converted,  and  promised  to  attend 
Mass.  They  declared  that  they  preferred  death.  A 
passion  for  martyrdom  even  seemed  to  be  spreading 
amongst  the  infatuated  people  ! 

Then  the  peasantry  began  secretly  to  take  up  arms 
for  their  defence.  They  had  thus  far  been  passive  in 
their  resistance,  and  were  content  to  brave  death  pro- 
vided they  could  but  worship  together.  At  length  they 
felt  themselves  driven  in  their  despair  to  resist  force  by 
force — acting,  however,  in  the  first  place,  entirely  on 
the  defensive — ''leaving  the  issue,"  to  use  the  words 
of  one  of  their  solemn  declarations,  *'  to  the  providence 
of  God." 

They  began — these  poor  labourers,  herdsmen,  and 
woolcarders — by  instituting  a  common  fund  for  the 
purpose  of  helping  their  distressed  brethren  in  sur- 
rounding districts.  They  then  invited  such  as  were 
disposed  to  join  them  to  form  themselves  into  companies, 
so  as  to  be  prepared  to  come  together  and  give  their 
assistance  as  occasion  required.  When  meetings  in 
the  Desert  were  held,  it  became  the  duty  of  these  en- 


86  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

rolled  men  to  post  themselves  as  sentinels  on  tlie  sur- 
rounding heights,  and  give  notice  of  the  approach  of 
their  enemies.  They  also  constituted  a  sort  of  voluntary 
police  for  their  respective  districts,  taking  notice  of  the 
changes  of  the  royal  troops,  and  dispatching  informa- 
tion "by  trusty  emissaries,  intimating  the  direction  of 
their  march. 

The  Intendant,  Baville,  wrote  to  Louvois,  minister 
of  Louis  XIY.  during  the  persecutions,  express- 
ing his  surprise  and  alarm  at  the  apparent  evidences 
of  organization  amongst  the  peasantry.  "  I  have  just 
learned,"  said  he  in  one  letter,*  ''  that  last  Sunday  there 
was  an  assembly  of  nearly  four  hundred  men,  many  of 
them  armed,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  of  Lozere.  I 
had  thought,"  he  added,  '^  that  the  great  lesson  taught 
them  at  Yigan  and  Anduze  w^ould  have  restored  tran- 
quillity to  the  Cevennes,  at  least  for  a  time.  But,  on 
the  contrary,  the  severity  of  the  measures  heretofore 
adopted  seems  only  to  have  had  the  effect  of  exasperat- 
ing and  hardening  them  in  their  iniquitous  courses." 

As  the  massacres  had  failed,  the  question  next  arose 
whether  the  inhabitants  might  not  be  driven  into  exile, 
and  the  country  entirely  cleared  of  them.  ^'  They  pre- 
tend," said  Louvois,  ^'  to  meet  in  *  the  Desert ; '  why  not 
take  them  at  their  word,  and  make  the  Cevennes  really 
a  Desert  ?"  But  there  were  difficulties  in  the  w^ay  of 
executing  this  plan.  In  the  first  place,  the  Protestants 
of  Languedoc  w^ere  a  quarter  of  a  million  in  number. 
And,  besides,  if  they  were  driven  out  of  it,  what  would 
become  of  the  industry  and  the  wealth  of  this  great 
province — what  of  the  King's  taxes  ? 

The  Duke  de  Noailles  advised  that  it  would  be  neces- 
*  October  20,  1686. 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  87 

sary  to  proceed  witli  some  caution  in  the  matter.  "  If 
his  Majesty,"  he  wrote  to  Baville,  ''  thinks  there  is  no 
other  remed}''  than  changing  the  whole  people  of  the 
Cevennes,  it  would  be  better  to  begin  by  expelling  those 
who  are  not  engaged  in  commerce,  who  inhabit  inacces- 
sible mountain  districts,  where  the  severity  of  the 
climate  and  the  poverty  of  the  soil  render  them  rude 
and  barbarous,  as  in  the  case  of  those  people  who  re- 
cently met  at  the  foot  of  the  Lozere.  Should  the  King 
consent  to  this  course,  it  will  be  necessary  to  send  here 
at  least  four  additional  battalions  of  foot  to  execute  his 
orders.''* 

An  attempt  was  made  to  carry  out  this  measure  of 
deportation  of  the  people,  but  totally  failed.  With  the 
aid  of  spies,  stimulated  by  high  rewards,  numerous 
meetings  in  the  Desert  were  fallen  upon  by  the  troops, 
and  those  who  were  not  hanged  were  transported — some 
to  Italy,  some  to  Switzerland,  and  some  to  America. 
But  transportation  had  no  terrors  for  the  people,  and 
the  meetina^s  continued  to  be  held  as  before. 

Baville  then  determined  to  occupy  the  entire  province 
with  troops,  and  to  carry  out  a  general  disarmament  of 
of  the  population.  Eight  regiments  of  regular  infantry 
were  sent  into  the  Cevennes,  and  fifty  regiments  of 
militia  were  raised  throughout  the  province,  forming 
together  an  army  of  some  forty  thousand  men.  Strong 
military  posts  were  established  in  the  mountains,  and 
new  forts  and  barracks  were  erected  at  Alais,  Anduze, 
St.  Hypolyte,  and  Nismes.  The  mountain- roads  being 
almost  impassable,  many  of  them  mere  mule  paths, 
Baville  had  more  than  a  hundred  new  high-roads  and 
branch-roads  constructed  and  made  practicable  for  the 
passage  of  troops  and  transport  of  cannon. 

*  Noailles  to  Baville,  29th  October,  1686. 


88  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

By  these  means  tlie  wiiole  country  became  strongly 
occupied,  but  still  tbe  meetings  in  tbe  Desert  went  on. 
The  peasantry  continued  to  brave  all  risks — of  exile, 
the  galleys,  the  rack,  and  the  gibbet — and  perseyered 
in  their  assemblies,  until  the  very  ferocity  of  their 
persecutors  became  wearied.  The  people  would  not  be 
converted  either  by  the  dragoons  or  the  priests  who 
were  stationed  amongst  them.  In  the  dead  of  the  night 
the}^  would  sally  forth  to  their  meetings  in  the  hills ; 
though  their  mountains  were  not  too  steep,  their  valleys 
not  too  secluded,  their  defiles  not  too  impenetrable  to 
protect  them  from  pursuit  and  attack,  for  they  were 
liable  at  any  moment  to  be  fallen  upon  and  put  to  the 
sword. 

The  darkness,  the  dangers,  the  awe  and  mystery 
attending  these  midnight  meetings  invested  them  with 
an  extraordinary  degree  of  interest  and  even  ^xscina- 
tion.  It  is  not  surprising  that  under  such  circumstances 
the  devotion  of  these  poor  people  should  have  run  into 
fanaticism  and  superstition.  Singing  the  psalms  of 
Marot  by  night,  under  the  shadow  of  echoing  rocks, 
they  fancied  they  heard  the  sounds  of  heavenly  voices 
filling  the  air.  At  other  times  they  would  meet  amidst 
the  ruins  of  their  fallen  sanctuaries,  and  mysterious 
sounds  of  sobbing  and  wailing  and  groaning  would 
seem  as  if  to  rise  from  the  tombs  of  their  fathers. 

Under  these  distressing  circumstances— in  the  midst 
of  poverty,  sufiering,  and  terror — a  sort  of  religious 
hysteria  suddenly  developed  itself  amongst  the  people, 
breaking  out  and  spreading  like  many  other  forms  of 
disease,  and  displaying  itself  chiefly  in  the  most  perse- 
cuted quarters  of  Dauphiny,  Yiverais,  and  the  Cevennes. 
The  people  had  lost  their  pastors ;  they  had  not  the 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  89 

guidance  of  sober  and  intelligent  persons  ;  and  they 
were  left  merely  to  pray  and  to  suffer.  The  terrible 
raid  of  the  priests  against  the  Protestant  books  had 
even  deprived  most  of  the  Huguenots  of  their  Bibles 
and  psalm-books,  so  that  they  were  in  a  great  measure 
left  to  profit  by  their  own  light,  such  as  it  was. 

The  disease  to  which  we  refer,  had  often  before  been 
experienced,  under  different  forms,  amongst  uneducated 
people  when  afflicted  by  terror  and  excitement ;  such, 
for  instance,  as  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Flagellants, 
which  followed  the  attack  of  the  plague  in  the  Middle 
Ages ;  the  Dancing  Mania,  which  followed  upon  the 
Black  Death  ;  the  Child's  Pilgrimages,  the  Convul- 
sionaires,  the  Revival  epilepsies  and  swoons,  which 
have  so  often  accompanied  fits  of  religious  devotion 
worked  up  into  frenzy  ;  these  diseases  being  merely 
the  result  of  excitement  of  the  senses,  which  con\ailse 
the  mind  and  powerfully  affect  the  whole  nervous 
system. 

The  "  prophetic  malady,"  as  we  may  call  it,  which 
suddenly  broke  out  amongst  the  poor  Huguenots,  be- 
gan with  epileptic  convulsions.  They  fell  to  the  ground 
senseless,  foamed  at  the  mouth,  sobbed,  and  eventually 
revived  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  speak  and  '^prophesy," 
like  a  mesmerised  person  in  a  state  of  clairvoyance.  The 
disease  spread  rapidly  by  the  influence  of  morbid  sym- 
pathy, which,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  we  have 
described,  exercises  an  amazing  power  over  human 
minds.  Those  who  spoke  with  power  were  considered 
'^inspired.''  They  prayed  and  preached  extatically, 
the  most  inspired  of  the  whole  being  women,  boys,  and 
even  children. 

One  of  the  first  ''  prophets  "  who  appeared  was  Isabel 
Yincent,  a  young  shepherdess  of  Crest,  in  Dauphiny, 


90  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

wlio  could  neither  read  nor  write.  Her  usual  speech 
was  the  patois  of  her  country,  but  when  she  became  in- 
spired she  spoke  perfectly,  and,  according  to  Michslet, 
with  great  eloquence.  "  She  chanted,"  he  says,  "  at 
first  the  Commandments,  then  a  psalm,  in  a  low  and 
fascinating  voice.  She  meditated  a  moment,  then 
began  the  lamentation  of  the  Church,  tortured,  exiled, 
at  the  galleys,  in  the  dungeons  :  for  all  those  evils  she 
bLimed  our  sins  onh^,  and  called  all  to  penitence. 
Thou,  starting  anew,  she  spoke  angelically  of  the  Divine 
goodness." 

Eoucher,  the  intcndant  of  the  province,  had  her 
apprehended  and  examined.  She  would  not  renounce. 
''  Tou  may  take  my  life,"  she  said,  ''  but  Gfodwill  raise 
up  others  to  speak  better  things  than  I  have  done." 
She  was  at  last  imprisoned  at  Grenoble,  and  afterwards 
in  the  Tower  of  Constance. 

As  Isabel  Yincent  had  predicted,  many  prophets 
followed  in  her  steps,  but  thc}^  did  not  prophesy  so 
divinely  as  she.  They  denounced  ''  Woe,  woe  "  upon 
their  persecutors.  They  reviled  Babylon  as  the  opj^res- 
sor  of  the  House  of  Israel.  They  preached  the  most 
violent  declamations  against  Rome,  drawn  from  the 
most  lugubrious  of  the  prophets,  and  stirred  the  minds 
of  their  hearers  into  the  most  furious  indignation. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  contagion  of  convulsive 
prophesj'ing  spread  was  extraordinary.  The  adherents 
were  all  of  the  poorer  classes,  who  read  nothing  but  the 
Bible,  and  had  it  nearly  by  heart.  It  spread  from 
Dauphiny  to  Yiverais,  and  from  thence  into  the  Ceven- 
nes.  *'  I  have  seen,"  said  Marshal  Yillars,  *'  things 
that  I  could  never  have  believed  if  they  had  not  passed 
under  my  own  eyes — an  entire'  city,  in  which  all  the 
women  and  girls,  without  exception,  appaared  possessed 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  91 

by  the  devil ;  tliey  quaked  and  propliesied  publiclj^  in 
the  streets."* 

riottard  says  there  were  eight  thousand  persons-  in 
one  province  who  had  inspiration.  All  were  not,  how- 
ever, equally  inspired.  There  were  four  degrees  of 
ecstasy :  first,  the  being  called ;  next,  the  inspiration ; 
then,  the  prophesy  ;  and,  lastly,  the  gift,  which  was 
the  inspiration  in  the  highest  degree. 

All  this  may  appear  ludicrous  to  some.  And  yet  the 
school  of  credulity  is  a  very  wide  one.  Even  in  these 
enlightened  times  in  which  we  live,  we  hear  of  tables 
turning,  spelling  out  words,  and  "  prophesying  *'  in 
their  own  way.  There  are  even  philosophers,  men  of 
science,  and  Kterati  who  believe  in  spiritualists  that 
rise  on  sofas  and  float  about  in  the  air,  who  project 
themselves  suddenly  out  of  one  window  and  enter  by 
another,  and  do  many  other  remarkable  things.  And 
though"  our  spiritual  table-rapping  and  floating  about 
may  seem  to  be  of  no  possible  use,  the  "  prophesying  " 
of  the  Camisards  was  all  but  essential  to  the  existence 
of  the  movement  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

The  population  became  intensely  excited  by  the  pre- 
valence of  this  enthusiasm  or  fanaticism.  ''  When  a 
Huguenot  assembly,"  says  Brueys,  "  was  appointed, 
even  before  daybreak,  from  all  the  hamlets  round,  the 
men,  women,  boys,  girls,  and  even  infants,  came  in 
crowds,  hurrying  from  their  huts,  pierced  through  the 
woods,  leapt  over  the  rocks,  and  flew  to  the  place  of 
appointment."  f 

Mere  force  was  of  no  avail  against  people  who  sup- 
posed themselves  to  be  under  supernatural  influences. 
The  meetings  in  the  Desert,  accordingly,  were  attended 

*  "  Vie  du  l\rarechal  de  Villars,"  i.  12-5. 

t  Brueys,  "  lli.s.oire  du  Fanaticisme  de  Notre  Temps." 


92  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

witli  increased  and  increasing  fascination,  and  Bayille, 
wlio  had  reported  to  the  King  the  entire  pacification 
and  conversion  of  Languedoc,  to  his  dismay  found  the 
whole  province  bursting  with  excitement,  which  a 
spark  at  any  moment  might  fire  into  frenzy.  And  that 
spark  was  shortly  afterwards  supplied  by  the  archpriest 
Chayla,  director  of  missions  at  Pont-de-Montvert. 

Although  it  was  known  that  many  of  the  peasantry 
attended  the  meetings  armed,  there  had  as  yet  been  no 
open  outbreak  against  the  royal  authority  in  the  Ceven- 
nes.  At  Cheilaret,  in  the  Yivarais,  there  had  been  an 
encounter  between  the  troops  and  the  peasantry ;  but 
the  people  were  speedily  dispersed,  leaving  three  hun- 
dred dead  and  fifty  wounded  on  the  field. 

The  Intendant  Baville,  after  thus  pacifying  the 
Yivarais,  was  proceeding  on  his  way  back  to  Montpellier, 
escorted  by  some  companies  of  dragoons  and  militia, 
passing  through  the  Cevennes  by  one  of  the  new  roads 
he  had  caused  to  be  constructed  along  the  valley  of  the 
Tarn,  by  Pont-de-Montvert  to  Florae.  What  was  his 
surprise,  on  passing  through  the  village  of  Pont-de- 
Montvert,  to  hear  the  roll  of  a  drum,  and'shortly  after  to 
perceive  a  column  of  rustics,  some  three  or  four  hundred 
in  number,  advancing  as  if  to  give  him  battle.  Paville 
at  once  drew  up  his  troops  and  charged  the  column, 
which  broke  and  fled  into  an  adjoining  wood.  Some 
were  killed  and  others  taken  prisoners,  who  were 
hanged  next  day  at  St.  Jean-du-Gard.  A  reward  of 
five  hundred  louis  d'or  was  advertised  for  the  leader, 
who  was  shortly  after  tracked  to  his  hiding-place  in  a 
cavern  situated  between  Anduze  and  Alais,  and  was 
there  shot,  but  not  until  after  he  had  killed  three 
soldiers  with  his  fusil. 

After  this  event  persecution  was  redoubled  through- 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  93 

out  tlie  Cevennes.  The  militia  ran  night  and  day  after 
the  meetings  in  the  Desert.  All  persons  found  attend- 
ing them,  who  coidd  be  captured,  were  either  killed  on 
the  spot  or  hanged.  Two  companies  of  militia  were 
quartered  in  Pont-de-Montvert  at  the  expense  of  the 
inhabitants  ;  and  they  acted  under  the  direction  of  the 
archpriest  Du  Chayla.  This  priest,  who  was  a  native 
of  the  district,  had  been  for  some  time  settled  as  a 
missionary  in  Siam  engaged  in  the  conversion  of  Budd- 
hists, and  on  his  return  to  France  he  was  appointed  to 
undertake  the  conversion  of  the  people  of  the  Cevennes 
to  the  fiiith  of  Rome. 

The  village  of  Pont-de-Montvert  is  situated  in  the 
hollow  of  a  deep  valley  formed  by  the  mountain  of  Lozere 
on  the  north,  and  of  Bouges  on  the  south,  at  the  point 
at  which  two  streams,  descending  from  their  respective 
summits,  flow  into  the  Tarn.  The  village  is  separated 
by  these  streams  into  three  little  hamlets,  which  are 
joined  together  by  the  bridge  which  gives  its  name  to 
the  place.  The  addition  of  "  Mont  Vert,"  however, 
is  a  misnomer  ;  for  though  seated  at  the  foot  of  a  steep 
mountain,  it  is  not  green,  but  sterile,  rocky,  and  ver- 
dureless.  The  village  is  best  reached  from  Florae, 
from  which  it  is  about  twenty  miles  distant.  The 
valley  runs  east  and  west,  and  is  traversed  by  a  toler- 
ably good  road,  which  at  the  lower  part  follows  the 
windings  of  the  Tarn,  and  higher  up  rims  in  and  out 
along  the  mountain  ledges,  at  every  turn  presenting 
new  views  of  the  bold,  grand,  and  picturesque  scenery 
which  characterizes  the  wilder  parts  of  the  Cevennes. 
Along  this  route  the  old  mule-road  is  still  discernible 
in  some  places — a  difficult,  rugged,  mountain  path, 
which  must  have  kept  the  district  sealed  up  during  the 


94  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

greater  part  of  tlie  j^ear,  until  Baville  constructed  tlie 
new  road  for  the  purpose  of  opening  up  tlie  country 
for  the  easier  passage  of  troops  and  munitions  of  war. 

A  few  poor  hamlets  occur  at  intervals  along  the 
road,  sometimes  perched  on  apparently  inaccessible 
rocks,  and  at  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  an  occa- 
sional chateau  is  to  be  seen,  as  at  Miral,  picturesquely 
situated  on  a  height.  But  the  country  is  too  poor  by 
nature — the  breadth  of  land  in  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine  being  too  narrow  and  that  on  the  mountain 
ledges  too  stony  and  sterile — ever  to  have  enabled  it 
to  maintain  a  considerable  population.  On  all  sides 
little  is  to  be  seen  but  rock}^  mountain  sides,  stony 
and  precipitous,  with  bold  mountain  peaks  extending 
beyond  them  far  away  in  the  distance. 

Pont-de-Montvert  is  the  centre  of  a  series  of  hamlets, 
the  inhabitants  of  which  were  in  former  times  almost 
exclusively  Protestant,  as  they  are  now  ;  and  where 
meetings  in  the  Desert  were  of  the  most  frequent 
occurrence.  Strong  detachments  of  troops  were  accord- 
ingly stationed  there  and  at  Florae  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  the  meetings  and  overawing  the  popula- 
tion. Besides  soldiers,  the  authorities  also  established 
missions  throughout  the  Cevennes,  and  the  j^rincipal 
inspector  of  these  missions  was  the  archpriest  Chayla. 
The  house  in  which  he  resided  at  Pont-de-Montvert  is 
still  pointed  out.  It  is  situated  near  the  north  end 
of  the  bridge  over  the  Tarn  ;  but  though  the  lower  part 
of  the  building  remains  as  it  was  in  his  time,  the  upper 
portion  has  been  for  the  most  part  rebuilt. 

Chayla  was  a  man  of  great  force  of  character — 
zealous,  laborious,  and  indefatigable — but  pitiless,  re- 
lentless, and  cruel.  He  had  no  bowels  of  compas- 
sion.    He  was  deaf  to  all  appeals  for   mercy.     With 


■  OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  95 

him  the  penalty  of  non-belief  in  the  faith  of  Eome 
was  imprisonment,  torture,  death.  Eight  Yoimg  priests 
lived  with  him,  whose  labours  he  directed ;  and 
great  was  his  annoyance  to  find  that  the  people  would 
not  attend  his  ministrations,  but  continued  to  flock 
after  their  own  prophet-preachers  in  the  Desert. 

Moral  means  having  failed,  he  next  tried  physical. 
He  converted  the  arched  cellars  of  his  dwelling  into 
dungeonr,  where  he  shut  up  those  guilty  of  contumacy  ; 
and  day  by  day  he  put  them  to  torture.  It  seems  like  a 
satire  on  religion  to  say  that,  in  his  attempt  to  convert 
souls,  this  vehement  missionary  made  it  one  of  his 
principal  studies  to  find  out  what  amount  of  agony  the 
bodies  of  those  who  difiered  from  him  would  bear  short 
of  actual  death.  He  put  hot  coals  into  their  hands, 
which  they  were  then  made  to  clench ;  wrapped  round 
their  fingers  cotton  steeped  in  oil,  which  was  then  set 
on  fire;  besides  practising  upon  them  the  more 
ordinary  and  commonplace  tortures.  No  wonder  that 
the  archpriest  came  to  be  detested  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Pont-de-Montvert. 

At  length,  a  number  of  people  in  the  district,  in 
order  to  get  beyond  reach  of  Chayla's  cruelty,  deter- 
mined to  emigrate  from  France  and  take  refuge  in 
Geneva.  They  assembled  one  morning  secretly,  a 
cavalcade  of  men  and  women,  and  set  out  under 
the  direction  of  a  guide  who  knew  the  mountain 
paths  towards  the  east.  When  they  had  travelled 
a  few  hours,  they  fell  into  an  ambuscade  of  militia, 
and  were  marched  back  to  the  archpriest's  quarters 
at  Pont-de-Montvert.  The  women  were  sent  to 
Mende  to  be  immured  in  convents,  and  the  men 
were  imprisoned  vn  the  archpriest's  dungeons.  The 
parents  of  some  of  the  captives  ran  to  throw  themselves 


96  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

at  his  feet,  and  implored  mercy  for  tlieir  sons  ;  but 
Chayla  was  inexorable.  He  declared  barslily  that  tbe 
prisoners  must  suffer  according  to  the  law — that  the 
fugitives  must  go  the  galleys,  and  their  guide  to  the 
gibbet. 

On  the  following  Sundaj^  the  23rd  of  July,  1702, 
one  of  the  preaching  prophets,  Pierre  Seguier  of 
Magistavols,  a  hamlet  lying  to  the  south  of  Pont-de- 
Montvert,  preached  to  an  assembly  on  the  neighbour- 
ing mountain  of  Bouges  ;  and  there  he  declared  that 
the  Lord  had  ordered  him  to  take  up  arms  to  deliver 
the  captives  and  exterminate  the  archpriest  of  Moloch. 
Another  and  another  preacher  followed  in  the  same 
strain,  the  excited  assembly  encouraging  them  by 
their  cries,  and  calling  upon  them  to  execute  God's 
vengeance  on  the  persecutors  of  God's  people. 

That  same  night  Seguier  and  his  companions  went 
round  amongst  the  neighbouring  hamlets  to  summon 
an  assemblage  of  their  sworn  followers  for  the  evening 
of  the  following  day.  Tiiey  met  punctually  in  the 
Altefage  Wood,  and  mider  the  shadow  of  three 
gigantic  beech  trees,  the  trunks  of  which  were  stand- 
ing but  a  few  years  ago,  they  solemnly  swore  to  deliver 
their  companions  and  destroy  the  archpriest. 

When  night  fell,  a  band  of  fiftj^  determined  men 
marched  down  the  mountain  towards  the  bridge, 
led  by  Seguier.  Twenty  of  them  were  armed  with 
guns  and  pistols.  The  rest  carried  scythes  and 
hatchets.  As  they  approached  the  village,  they  sang 
Marot's  version  of  the  seventy- fourth  Psalm.  The 
archpriest  heard  the  unwonted  sound  as  they  came 
marching  along.  Thinking  it  was  a  nocturnal  as- 
sembly, he  cried  to  his  soldiers,  "  Run  and  see  what 
this  means."      But  the  doors  of  the  house  were  already 


OUTBREAK  IN  LANGUEDOC.  97 

invested  by  the  mountaineers,  who  shouted  out  for 
"The  prisoners!  the  prisoners!"  *'Back,  Huguenot 
canaille  !  "  cried  Chayla  from  the  window.  But  they 
only  shouted  the  louder  for  "  The  prisoners  ! " 

The  archpriest  then  directed  the  militia  to  fire,  and 
one  of  the  peasants  fell  dead.  Infuriated,  they  seized 
the  trunk  of  a  tree,  and  using  it  as  a  battering-ram,  at 
once  broke  in  the  door.  They  next  proceeded  to  force 
the  entrance  to  the  dungeon,  in  which  they  succeeded, 
and  called  upon  the  prisoners  to  come  forth.  But 
some  of  them  were  so  crippled  by  the  tortures 
to  which  they  had  been  subjected,  that  they  could 
not  stand.  At  sight  of  their  sufferings  the  fury  of  the 
assailants  increased,  and,  running  up  the  staircase, 
they  called  out  for  the  archpriest.  ''  Burn  the  priest 
and  the  satellites  of  Baal ! ''  cried  their  leader  ;  and 
heaping  together  the  soldiers*  straw  beds,  the  chairs, 
and  other  combustibles,  they  set  the  whole  on  fire. 

Chayla,  in  the  hope  of  escaping,  jumped  from  a 
window  into  the  garden,  and  in  the  fall  broke  his  leg. 
The  peasants  discovered  him  by  the  light  of  the  blazing- 
dwelling.  He  called  for  mercy.  '^JN^o,"  said  Seguier, 
"only  such  mercy  as  you  have  shown  to  others  ;"  and 
he  struck  him  the  first  blow. 

The  others  followed.  "  This  for  my  father,"  said 
the  next,  "  whom  you  racked  to  death  ! " 

"  This  for  my  brother,"  said  another,  "  whom  you 
sent  to  the  galleys  I" 

"  This  for  my  mother,  who  died  of  grief ! " 

This  for  my  sister,  my  relatives,  my  friends,  in 
exile,  in  prison,  in  misery  ! 

And  thus  blow  followed  blow,  fifty-two  in  all,  half 
of  which  would  probably  have  been  mortal,  and  the 
detested  Chayla  lay  a  bleeding  mass  at  their  feet ! 


Map  of  the  Country  of  the  Cevenneg. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IXSURRECTIOX    OF    THE    CAMISARDS. 

npHE  poor  peasants,  wool-carders,  and  neatherds  of 
-■-  tlie  Cevennes,  formed  only  a  small  and  insignifi- 
cant section  of  the  great  body  of  men  who  were  about 
the  same  time  engaged  in  different  countries  of  Europe 
in  vindicating  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
For  this  cause,  a  comi^arative  handful  of  people  in  the 
Low  Countries,  occupying  the  Dutch  United  Pro- 
vinces, had  banded  themselves  together  to  resist  the 
armies  of  Spain,  then  the  most  powerful  monarchy  in 
the  world.  The  struggle  had  also  for  some  time  been 
in  progress  in  England  and  Scotland,  where  it  cul- 
minated in  the  Revolution  of  1688  ;  and  it  was  still 
raging  in  the  Yaudois  valleys  of  Piedmont. 

The  object  contended  for  in  all  these  cases  was  the 
same.  It  was  the  vindication  of  human  freedom 
against  royal  and  sacerdotal  despotism.  It  could 
only  have  been  the  direst  necessity  that  drove  a  poor, 
scattered,  unarmed  peasantrj^  such  as  the  people  of 
the  Cevennes,  to  take  up  arms  against  so  powerful  a 
sovereign  as  Louis  XIY.  Their  passive  resistance 
had  lasted  for  fifteen  long  years,  during  which  many 
of  them  had  seen  their  kindred  racked,  hano^ed,  or 
sent  to  the  galleys ;  and  at  length  their  patience  wa: 

8 


100  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

exhausted,  and  tlie  inevitable  outburst  took  place.  Yet 
tbey  were  at  any  moment  ready  to  lay  down  tlieir 
arms  and  return  to  tlieir  allegiance,  provided  only  a 
reasonable  degree  of  libert}^  of  worship  were  assured  to 
them.  This,  however,  their  misguided  and  bigoted 
monarch  would  not  tolerate  \  for  he  had  sworn  that 
no  persons  were  to  be  suffered  in  his  dominions  save 
those  who  were  of  "the  King's  religion." 

The  circumstances  accompanying  the  outbreak  of 
the  Protestant  peasantry  in  the  Cevennes  in  many 
respects  resembled  those  which  attended  the  rising  of 
the  Scotch  Covenanters  in  1679.  Both  were  occa- 
sioned by  the  persistent  attempts  of  men  in  power  to 
enforce  a  particular  form  of  religion  at  the  point  of  the 
sword.  The  resistors  of  the  policy  were  in  both  cases 
Calvinists;*  and  they  were  alike  indomitable  and 
obstinate  ih  their  assertion  of  the  rights  of  conscience. 
They  held  that  religion  was  a  matter  between  man  and 
his  God,  and  not  between  man  and  his  sovereign  or  the 
Pope.     The  peasantry  in  both  cases  persevered  in  their 

*  Whether  it  be  that  Calvinism  is  electic  as  regards  races  and 
individuals,  or  that  it  has  (as  is  most  probably  the  case)  a  powerful 
formative  influence  upon  individual  character,  certain  it  is  that  the 
Calvinists  of  all  countries  have  presented  the  strongest  possible  re- 
semblance to  each  other — the  Calvinists  of  Geneva  and  Holland,  the 
Huguenots  of  France,  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland,  and  the  Puritans 
of  Old  and  New  England,  seeming,  as  it  were,  to  be  but  members  of 
the  same  family.  It  is  curious  to  speculate  on  the  influence  which 
the  religion  of  Calvin — himself  a  Frenchman — might  have  exercised 
ou  the  history  of  France,  as  well  as  on  the  individual  character  of 
Frenchmen,  had  the  balance  offerees  carried  the  nation  bodily  over 
to  Protestantism  (as  was  very  nearly  the  case)  towards  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Heinrich  Heine  has  expressed  the  opinion  that 
the  western  races  contain  a  large  proportion  of  men  for  whom  the 
moral  principle  of  Judaism  has  a  strong  elective  afhnity  ;  and  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  the  Old  Testament  certainly 
seems  to  have  exercised  a  much  more  powerful  influence  on  the  minds 
of  religious  reformers  than  the  New.  "The  Jews,"  says  Heine, 
"  were  the  Germans  of  the  East,  and  nowadays  the  Protestants  in 
German  countries  (England,  Scotland,  America,  Germany,  Holland) 
are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  ancient  Oriental  Jews." 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.     loi 

own  form  of  worship.  In  Languedoc,  tlie  moun- 
taineers of  tlie  Cevennes  lield  tlieir  assemblies  in  "  Tlie 
Desert ;''  and  in  Scotland,  the  "liill-folk''  of  tlie  West 
held  their  meetings  on  the  mnirs.  In  the  one  country 
as  in  the  other,  the  monarchs  sent  out  soldiers  as  their 
missionaries — Louis  XIY.  employing  the  dragoons  of 
LouYois  and  Baville,  and  Charles  II.  those  of  Claver- 
liouse  and  Dalzell.  These  failing,  new  instruments  of 
torture  were  invented  for  their  ''  conversion.''  But  the 
people,  in  both  cases,  continued  alike  stubborn  in  their 
adherence  to  their  own  simple  and,  as  some  thought, 
uncouth  form  of  faith. 

The  French  Calvinist  peasantry,  like  the  Scotch, 
were  great  in  their  preachers  and  their  prophets. 
Both  devoted  themselves  with  enthusiasm  to  psalmody, 
insomuch  that  "psalm-singers"  was  their  nickname  in 
both  countries.  The  one  had  their  Clement  Marot  by 
heart,  the  other  their  Sternhold  and  Hopkins.  Hugue- 
not prisoners  in  chains  sang  psalms  in  their  dungeons, 
galley  slaves  sang  them  as  they  plied  at  the  oar, 
fugitives  in  the  halting-places  of  their  flight,  the  con- 
demned as  they  marched  to  the  gallows,  and  the 
Camisards  as  they  rushed  into  battle.  It  was  said  of 
the  Covenanters  that  "they  lived  praying  and  preach- 
ing, and  they  died  praying  and  fighting ; ''  and  the 
same  might  have  been  said  of  the  Huguenot  peasantry 
of  the  Cevennes. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  outbreak  of  the  insur- 
rection in  both  countries  was  also  similar.  In  the  one 
case,  it  was  the  cruelty  of  the  archpriest  C  hay  la,  the 
inventor  of  a  new  machine  of  torture  called  "  the 
Squeezers,"*  and  in  the  other  the  cruelty  of  Arch- 

*  The  instrument  is  thus  described  by  Cavalier,  in  his   "  Memoirs 
of  the  Wars  of  the  Cevennes,"  London,  1726  :     "This  inhuman  man 


i^ 


102  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

bishop  Sliarpe,  the  inyentor  of  that  horrible  instrument 
called  "  the  Iron  Boot,"  that  excited  the  fury  of  the 
people ;  and  the  murder  of  the  one  by  Scguier  and  his 
band  at  Pont-de-Montvert,  as  of  the  other  by  Balfour 
of  Burley  and  his  companions  on  Magus  JMuir,  proved 
the  signal  for  a  general  insurrection  of  the  peasantry 
in  both  countries.  Both  acts  were  of  like  atrocity  ; 
but  they  corresponded  in  character  with  the  cruelties 
which  had  provoked  them.  Insurrections,  like  revolu- 
tions, are  not  made  of  rose-water.  In  such  cases, 
action  and  reaction  are  equal ;  the  violence  of  the 
oppressors  usually  finding  its  counterpart  in  the  vio- 
lence of  the  oppressed. 

The  insurrection  of  the  French  peasantry  proved  by 
far  the  most  determined  and  protracted  of  the  two  ; 
arising  probably  from  the  more  difficult  character  of 
the  mountain  districts  which  they  occupied  and  the 
quicker  military  instincts  of  the  people,  as  well  as 
because  several  of  their  early  leaders  and  organizers 
were  veteran  soldiers  who  had  served  in  many  cam- 
paigns. The  Scotch  insurgents  were  suppressed  by  the 
English  army  under  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  in  less 
than  two  months  after  the  original  outbreak,  though 
their  cause  eventually  triumphed  in  the  Bevolution  of 
1688;  whereas  the  peasantry  of  the  Cevennes,  though 
deprived  of  all  extraneous  help,  continued  to  maintain 
a  heroic  struggle  for  several  years,  but  were  under  the 
necessity  of  at  last  succumbing  to  the  overpowering 
military  force  of  Louis  XIY.,  after  which  the  Hugue- 

had  invented  a  rack  (more  cruel,  if  it  be  possible,  than  that  usually 
made  use  of)  to  torment  these  poor  unfortunate  gentlemen  and  ladies; 
which  was  a  beam  he  caused  to  be  split  in  two,  with  vices  at  each 
end.  Every  morning  he  would  send  for  these  poor  people,  in  order 
to  examine  them,  and  if  they  refused  to  confess  what  he  desired,  he 
caused  their  legs  to  be  put  in  the  slit  of  the  beam,  and  there  squeezed 
them  till  the  bones  cracked,"  &c.,  &c.  (p.  3o). 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.     103 

nots  of  France  continued  to  be  stamped  out  of  sight, 
and  apparently  out  of  existence,  for  nearly  a  century. 

In  tlie  preceding  chapter,  we  left  tlie  archpriest 
Chayla  a  corpse  at  the  feet  of  his  murderers.  Several 
of  the  soldiers  found  in  the  chateau  were  also  killed,  as 
well  as  the  cook  and  house-steward,  who  had  helped  to 
torture  the  prisoners.  But  one  of  the  domestics,  and 
a  soldier,  who  liad  treated  them  with  kindness, 
were,  at  their  intercession,  pardoned  and  set  at  liberty. 
The  corpses  were  brought  together  in  the  garden,  and 
Seguier  and  his  companions,  kneeling  round  them — a 
grim  and  ghastly  sight — sang  psalms  until  daybreak, 
the  uncouth  harmony  ming'Kno^  with  the  crackling  of 
the  flames  of  the  dwelling  overhead,  and  the  sullen 
roar  of  the  river  rushing  under  the  neighbouring  bridge. 

"When  the  grey  of  morning  appeared,  the  men  rose 
from  their  knees,  emerged  from  the  garden,  crossed  the 
bridge,  and  marched  up  the  main  street  of  the  village. 
The  inhabitants  had  barricaded  themselves  in  their 
houses,  being  in  a  state  of  great  fear  lest  they  should 
be  implicated  in  the  murder  of  the  atchpriest.  But 
Seguier  and  his  followers  made  no  further  halt  in  Pont- 
de-Montvert,  but  passed  along,  still  singing  psalms, 
towards  the  hamlet  of  Frugeres,  a  little  further  up  the 
valley  of  the  Tarn. 

Seguier  has  been  characterised  as  "the  Danton  of 
the  Cevennes.'*  This  fierce  and  iron-willed  man  was 
of  great  stature — bony  and  dark-visaged,  without  upper 
teeth,  his  hair  hanging  loose  over  his  shoulders — and 
of  a  wild  and  mystic  appearance,  occasioned  probably 
by  the  fits  of  ecstasy  to  which  he  was  subject,  and  the 
wandering  life  he  had  for  so  many  years  led  as  a 
prophet-preacher  in  the   Desert.      This  terrible   man 


104  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

liad  resolved  upon  a  general  massacre  of  the  priests, 
and  lie  now  threw  himself  upon  Frugeres  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  out  the  enterprise  begun  by  him  at 
Pont-de-Montvert.  The  cure  of  the  hamlet,  who  had 
already  heard  of  Chayla's  murder,  fled  from  his  house 
at  sound  of  the  approaching  psalm- singers,  and  took 
refuge  in  an  adjoining  rye- field.  He  was  speedily 
tracked  thither,  and  brought  down  by  a  musket-ball ; 
and  a  list  of  twenty  of  his  parishioners,  whom  he  had 
denounced  to  the  archpriest,  was  found  under  his 
cassock. 

From  Frugeres  the  prophet  and  his  band  marched 
on  to  St.  Maurice  de  Yentalong,  so  called  because  of 
the  winds  which  at  certain  seasons  blow  so  furiously 
alon2:  the  narrow  yallev  in  which  it  is  situated ;  but 
the  prior  of  the  convent,  having  been  warned  of  the 
outbreak,  had  already  mounted  his  horse  and  taken  to 
flight.  Here  Seguier  was  informed  of  the  approach  of 
a  body  of  militia  who  were  on  his  trail ;  but  he  avoided 
them  by  taking  refuge  on  a  neighbouring  mountain- 
side, where  he  spent  the  night  with  his  companions  in 
a  thicket.         ' 

J^Text  morning,  at  daybreak,  he  descended  the  moun- 
tain, crossed  the  track  of  his  pursuers,  and  directed 
himself  upon  St.  Andre  de  Lanceze.  The  whole 
country  was  by  this  time  in  a  state  of  alarm  ;  and  the 
cure  of  the  place,  being  on  the  outlook,  mounted  the 
clock-tower  and  rang  the  tocsin.  Eut  his  parishioners 
having  joined  the  insurgents,  the  cure  was  pursued, 
captured  in  the  belfry,  and  thrown  from  its  highest 
window.  The  insurgents  then  proceeded  to  gut  the 
church,  pull  down  the  crosses,  and  destroy  all  the  em- 
blems of  Romanism  on  which  they  could  lay  their 
hands. 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.    105 

Seguier  and  his  band  next  liurried  across  the  moun- 
tains towards  the  south,  having  learnt  that  the  cures  of 
the  neighbourhood  had  assembled  at  St.  Germain  to 
assist  at  the  obsequies  of  the  archpriest  Chayla,  whose 
body  had  been  brought  thither  from  Pont-de-Montvert 
on  the  morning  after  his  murder.  When  Seguier  was 
informed  that  the  town  and  country  militia  were  in 
force  in  the  place,  he  turned  aside  and  went  in  another 
direction.  The  cures,  however,  having  heard  that 
Seguier  was  in  the  neighbourhood,  fled  panic-stricken, 
some  to  the  chateau  of  Portes,  others  to  St.  Andre, 
while  a  number  of  them  did  not  halt  until  they  had 
found  shelter  within  the  walls  of  Alais,  some  twenty 
miles  distant. 

Thus  four  days  passed.  On  the  fifth  night  Seguier 
appeared  before  the  chateau  of  Ladeveze,  and  demanded 
the  arms  which  had  been  deposited  there  at  the  time  of 
the  disarmament  of  the  peasantry.  The  owner  replied 
by  a  volley  of  musketry,  which  killed  and  wounded 
several  of  the  insurgents,  at  the  same  time  ringing  the 
alarm-bell.  Seguier,  furious  at  this  resistance,  at  once 
burst  open  the  gates,  and  ordered  a  general  massacre  of 
the  household.  This  accomplished,  he  ransacked  the 
place  of  its  arms  and  ammunition,  and  before  leaving 
set  the  castle  on  fire,  the  flames  throwing  a  lurid  glare 
over  the  surrounding  country.  Seguier' s  band  then 
descended  the  mountain  on  which  the  chateau  is  situ- 
ated, and  made  for  the  north  in  the  direction  of  Cas- 
sagnas,  arriving  at  the  elevated  plateau  of  Font-Morte 
a  little  before  daybreak. 

In  the  meantime,  Baville,  the  intendant  of  the  pro- 
vince, was  hastening  to  Pont-de-jMontvert  to  put  down 
the  insurrection  and  avenge  the  death  of  the  archpriest. 
The  whole  country  was  roused.    Troops  were  dispatched 


io6  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

in  hot  liaste  from  Alais ;  the  militia  were  assemLled 
from  all  quarters  and  marched  upon  the  disturbed  dis- 
trict. The  force  was  placed  under  the  orders  of 
Captain  Poul,  an  old  soldier  of  fortune,  A\'ho  had  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  German  wars,  and  in  the  recent 
crusade  aorainst  the  Italian  Yaudois.  It  was  because  of 
the  individual  prowess  which  Captain  Poul  had  displayed 
in  his  last  campaign,  that,  at  the  peace  of  Pyswick, 
Baville  requested  that  he  should  be  attached  to  the 
army  of  Languedoc,  and  employed  in  putting  down  the 
insurgents  of  the  Cevennes. 

Captain  Poul  was  hastening  with  his  troops  to  Florae 
when,  having  been  informed  of  the  direction  in  which 
Seguier  and  his  band  had  gone,  he  turned  aside  at 
Barre,  and  after  about  an  hour's  march  eastward,  he 
came  up  with  them  at  Font-Morte.  They  suddenly 
started  up  from  amongst  the  broom  where  they  had 
lain  down  to  sleep,  and,  firing  off  their  guns  upon  the 
advancing  host,  without  offering  any  further  resistance, 
fled  in  all  directions.  Poul  and  his  men  spurred 
after  them,  cutting  down  the  fugitives.  Coming  up 
with  Seguier,  who  was  vainly  trying  to  rally  his  men, 
Poul  took  him  prisoner  with  several  others,  and  they 
were  forthwith  chained  and  marched  to  Florae.  As. 
they  proceeded  along  the  road,  Poul  s^id  to  Seguier, 
"  Well,  wretch !  now  I  haA'e  got  you,  how  do  you  ex- 
pect to  be  treated  after  the  crimes  you  have  com- 
mitted ? ''  *'  As  I  would  mj^self  have  treated  you,  had 
I  taken  you  prisoner,"  was  the  reply. 

Seguier  stood  before  his  judges  calm  and  fearless. 
"What  is  your  name?"  he  was  asked.  *' Pierre 
Seguier."  "Why  do  they  call  you  Esprit?"  "Be- 
cause the  Spirit  of  God  is  in  me."  "Your  abode?" 
"  In  the  Desert,  and  shortly  in  heaven."    "Ask  pardon 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  C  AMIS  ARE  S,    107 

of  the  King  ! "  "  AYe  have  no  other  King  but  the 
Eternal."  "  Have  you  no  feeling  of  remorse  for  vour 
crimes?"  *' My  soul  is  as  a  garden  full  of  shady 
groves  and  of  peaceful  fountains." 

Seguier  was  condemned  to  have  his  hands  cut  off  at 
the  wrist,  and  be  burnt  alive  at  Pont-de-Montvert. 
Nouvel,  another  of  the  prisoners,  was  broken  alive  at 
Ladeveze,  and  Bonnet,  a  third,  was  hanged  at  St. 
Andre.  They  all  suffered  without  flinching.  Seguier' s 
last  words,  spoken  amidst  the  flames,  were,  ''  Brethren, 
wait,  and  hope  in  the  Eternal.  The  desolate  Carmel 
shall  yet  revive,  and  the  solitary  Lebanon  shall  blossom 
as  the  rose ! "  Thus  perished  the  grim,  unflinching 
prophet  of  Magistavols,  the  terrible  avenger  of  the 
cruelties  of  Chayla,  the  earliest  leader  in  the  insurrec- 
tion of  the  Camisards ! 

It  is  not  exactly  known  how  or  when  the  insurgents 
were  first  called  Camisards.  They  called  themselves 
by  no  other  name  than  "  The  Children  of  God  "  {En- 
fants  de  Dieu)  ;  but  their  enemies  variously  nicknamed 
them  ''  The  Barbels,"  ''  The  Vagabonds,"  ''  The  As- 
semblers," "The  Psalm-singers,"  "The  Fanatics,"  and 
lastly,  "  The  Camisards."  This  name  is  said  to  have 
been  given  them  because  of  the  common  blouse  or 
camisole  which  they  wore — their  only  uniform.  Others 
say  that  it  arose  from  their  wearing  a  white  shirt,  or 
camise,  over  their  dress,  to  enable  them  to  distinguish 
each  other  in  their  night  attacks  ;  and  that  this  was  not 
the  case,  is  partly  countenanced  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
course  of  the  insurrection  a  body  of  peasant  royalists 
took  the  field,  who  designated  themselves  the  "  White 
Camisards,"  in  contradistinction  from  the  others.  Others 
say  the  word  is  derived  from  cam  is,  signifying  a  road- 
runner.     But  whatever  the  origin  of  the  word  may  be, 


io8  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

tlie  Camisards  was  tlie  name  most  commonly  applied  to 
tlie  insurgents,  and  by  which  they  continue  to  be  known 
in  local  history. 

Captain  Poul  vigorously  followed  up  the  blow 
delivered  at  Font-Morte.  He  apprehended  all  sus- 
pected persons  in  the  Upper  Cevennes,  and  sent  them 
before  the  judges  at  Florae.  Unable  to  capture  the 
insurgents  who  had  escaped,  he  seized  their  parents, 
their  relations,  and  families,  and  these  were  condemned 
to  various  punishments.  But  what  had  become  of  the 
insurgents  themselves  ?  Knowing  that  they  had 
nothing  but  death  to  expect,  if  taken,  they  hid  them- 
s  3lves  in  caves  known  only  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
district,  and  so  secretly  that  Poul  thought  the}'"  had 
succeeded  in  making  their  escape  from  France.  The 
Intendant  Baville  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion,  and 
he  congratulated  himself  accordingl}'  on  the  final 
suppression  of  the  outbreak.  Leaving  sundry  detach- 
ments of  trooj^s  posted  in  the  principal  villages,  he 
returned  to  Alais,  and  invited  the  fugitive  priests  at 
once  to  return  to  their  respective  parishes. 

After  remaining  in  concealment  for  several  days,  the 
surviving  insurgents  met  one  night  to  consult  as  to  the 
steps  they  were  to  take,  with  a  view  to  their  personal 
safetj^  They  had  by  this  time  been  joined  by  several 
sympathizers,  amongst  others  by  three  veteran  soldiers 
— Laporte,  Esperandieu,  and  E-astelet — and  by  young 
Cavalier,  who  had  just  returned  from  Geneva,  where  he 
had  been  in  exile,  and  was  now  ready  to  share  in  the 
dangers  of  his  compatriots.  The  greater  number  of 
those  present  were  in  favour  of  bidding  a  final  adieu 
to  France,  and  escaping  across  the  frontier  into 
Switzerland,   considering    that    the   chances    of   their 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  C  AMI  SARDS.    109 

offering  any  successful  resistance  to  their  oppressors, 
were  altogether  hopeless.  But  against  this  craven 
course  Laporte  raised  his  voice. 

*' Brethren/'  said  he,  ''why  depart  into  the  land  of 
the  stranger  ?  Have  we  not  a  country  of  our  own,  the 
country  of  our  fathers  ?  It  is,  you  say,  a  country  of 
slavery  and  death  !  Well !  Free  it !  and  deliver  your 
oppressed  brethren.  Never  say,  '  What  can  we  do  ? 
we  are  few  in  number,  and  without  arms ! '  The  God 
of  armies  shall  be  our  strength.  Let  us  sing  aloud  the 
psalm  of  battles,  and  from  the  Lozere  even  to  the  sea 
Israel  will  arise !  As  for  arms,  have  we  not  our 
hatchets  ?  These  will  bring  us  muskets  !  Brethren, 
there  is  only  one  course  worthy  to  be  pursued.  It  is  to 
live  for  our  country  ;  and,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  it. 
Better  die  by  the  sword  than  by  the  rack  or  the 
gallows !  '^ 

From  this  moment,  not  another  word  was  said  of 
flight.  With  one  voice,  the  assembly  cried  to  the 
speaker,  "Be  our  chief  !  It  is  the  will  of  the 
Eternal ! "  "  The  Eternal  be  the  witness  of  your 
promises,"  replied  Laporte  ;  "I  consent  to  be  your 
chief!"  He  assumed  forthwith  the  title  of  "  Colonel 
of  the  Children  of  God,"  and  named  his  camp  "  The 
camp  of  the  Eternal !" 

Laporte  belonged  to  an  old  Huguenot  flmiily  of 
the  village  of  Massoubeyran,  near  Anduze.  They  were 
respectable  peasants,  some  of  whom  lived  by  farming 
and  others  by  trade.  Old  John  Laporte  had  four  sons, 
of  whom  the  eldest  succeeded  his  father  as  a  small 
farmer  and  cattle-breeder,  occupying  the  family  dwell- 
ing at  Massoubeyran,  still  known  there  as  the  house  of 
*'  Laporte-Roland."  It  contains  a  secret  retreat,  open- 
ing from  a  corner  of  the  floor,  called  the  "  Cachette  do 


1 1 0  THE  HUG UENOTS. 

Roland/'  In  wLicli  tlie  celebrated  chief  of  this  name, 
son  of  the  owner,  was  accustomed  to  take  refuge  ;  and 
in  this  cottage,  the  old  Bible  of  Holand's  father,  as  well 
as  the  halbert  of  Roland  himself,  continue  to  be  reli- 
giously preserved. 

Two  of  Laporte's  brothers  were  Protestant  ministers. 
One  of  them  was  the  last  pastor  of  Collet-de-Deze  in 
the  Cevcnnes.  Banished  because  of  his  faith,  he  fled 
from  France  at  the  Revocation,  joined  the  army  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange  in  Holland,  and  came  over  with  him 
to  England  as  chaplain  of  one  of  the  French  regiments 
which  landed  at  Torbay  in  1G88.  Another  brother,  also 
a  pastor,  remained  in  the  Cevcnnes,  preaching  to  the 
people  in  the  Desert,  though  at  the  daily  risk  of  his 
life,  and  after  about  ten  years'  labour  in  this  vocation, 
he  was  apprehended,  taken  prisoner  to  Montpcllier,  and 
strangled  on  the  Peyrou  in  the  year  1696. 

The  fourth  brother  was  the  Laporte  whom  we  have 
just  described  as  undertaking  ihe  leadership  of  the 
hunted  insurgents  remaining  in  the  Upper  Cevcnnes. 
He  had  served  as  a  soldier  In  the  King's  armies,  and  at 
the  peace  of  Ryswick  returned  to  his  native  village,  the 
year  after  his  elder  brother  had  suffered  martyrdom  at 
Montpelller.  He  settled  for  a  time  at  Collet-de-Deze, 
from  which  his  other  brother  had  been  expelled,  and 
there  he  carried  on  the  trade  of  an  Ironworker  and 
blacksmith.  He  was  a  great,  brown,  brawny  man,  of 
vehement  plet}^,  a  constant  frequenter  of  the  meetings 
in  the  Desert,  and  a  mighty  psalm-singer — one  of 
those  strong,  massive,  ardent-natured  men  who  so 
powerfully  draw  others  after  them,  and  in  times  of 
revolution  exercise  a  sort  of  popular  royalty  amongst 
the  masses.  The  oppression  which  had  raged  so 
furiously  in  the  district  excited  his  utmost  indignation, 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CA3IISARDS.    1 1 1 

and  wlien  lie  soiiglit  out  tTie  despairing  insurgents  in 
the  mountains,  and  found  that  they  were  contemplating 
flight,  he  at  once  gave  utterance  to  the  few  burning 
words  we  have  cited,  and  fixed  their  determination 
to  strike  at  least  another  blow  for  the  liberty  of  their 
country  and  their  religion. 

The  same  evening  on  which  Laporte  assumed  the 
leadership  (about  the  beginning  of  August,  1702)  he 
made  a  descent  on  three  Roman  Catholic  villages  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  meeting-place,  and  obtained 
possession  of  a  small  stock  of  powder  and  balls.  When 
it  became  Ivuown  that  the'  insurorents  were  as"ain  draw- 
ing  together,  others  joined  them.  Amongst  these  were~<^ 
Castonet,  a  forest-ranger  of  the  Aigoal  mountain 
district  in  the  west,  Avho  brought  with  him  some 
twelve  recruits  from  the  country  near  Yebron.  Shortly 
after,  there  arrived  from  Yauvert  the  soldier  Catinet, 
bringing  with  him  twenty  more.  Next  came  young 
Cavalier,  from  Kibaute,  with  another  band,  armed  with 
muskets  which  they  had  seized  from  the  prior  of  St. 
Martin,  with  whom  they  had  been  deposited. 

Meanwhile  Laporte's  nephew,  young  Roland,  was 
running  from  village  to  village  in  the  Yaunage,  hold- 
ing assemblies  and  rousing  the  people  to  come  to  the 
help  of  their  distressed  brethren  in  the  mountains. 
Roland  was  a  young  man  of  bright  intelligence,  gifted 
with  much  of  the  preaching  power  of  his  family.  His 
eloquence  was  of  a  martial  sort,  for  he  had  been  bred 
a  soldier,  and  though  young,  had  already  fought  in 
many  battles.  He  was  everywhere  received  with  open 
arms  in  the  Yaunage. 

"  My  brethren,^'  said  he,  "the  cause  of  God  and  the 
deliverance  of  Israel  is  at  stake.  Follow  us  to  the 
mountains,     '^o  country  is  better  suited  for  war — we 


1 1 2  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

have  the  hill-tops  for  camps,  gorges  for  ambuscades, 
woods  to  rally  in,  caves  toliide  in,  and,  in  case  of  flight, 
secret  tracts  trodden  only  by  the  mountain  goat.  All 
the  people  there  are  your  brethren,  who  will  throw 
open  their  cabins  to  you,  and  share  their  bread  and 
milk  and  the  flesh  of  their  sheep  with  you,  while  the 
forests  will  supply  you  with  chestnuts.  And  then, 
what  is  there  to  fear  ?  Did  not  God  nourish  his 
chosen  people  with  manna  in  the  desert  ?  And  docs 
He  not  renew  his  miracles  day  by  day  ?  Will  not  his 
Spirit  descend  upon  his  afflicted  children?  lie  con- 
soles us,  lie  strengthens  us,  He  calls  us  to  arms.  He 
will  cause  his  angels  to  march  before  us  !  As  for  me, 
I  am  an  old  soldier,  and  will  do  my  duty  !  "* 

These  stirring  words  evoked  an  enthusiastic  response. 
Numbers  of  the  people  thus  addressed  by  Roland 
declared  themselves  ready  to  follow  him  at  once.  But 
instead  of  taking  with  him  all  who  were  willing  to 
join  the  standard  of  the  insurgents,  he  directed  them 
to  enrol  and  organize  themselves,  and  await  his 
speedy  return ;  selecting  for  the  present  only  such 
as  were  in  his  opinion  likely  to  make  efficient  sol- 
diers, and  with  these  he  rejoined  his  imcle  in  the 
mountains.  , 

The  number  of  the  insurgents  was  thus  raised  to 
about  a  hundred  and  fift}^ — a  very  small  body  of  men, 
contemptible  in  point  of  numbers  compared  wdth  the 
overwhelming  forces  by  which  they  were  oj^posed,  but 
all  animated  by  a  determined  spirit,  and  commanded  by 
fearless  and  indomitable  leaders.  The  band  was  divided 
into  three  brigades  of  fifty  each ;  Laporte  taking  the 
command  of  the  companions  of  Seguier ;  the  new-comers 

*  Brueys,    "  Histoire    de    Fanatisme ; "    Peyrat,    "  Hifctoire    des 
Pasteurs  du  Desert." 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.     113 

being  divided  into  two   bodies  of  like   number,   wbo 
elected  Roland  and  Castanet  as  tbeir  respective  cbiefs. 

Laporte  occupied  tbe  last  days  of  August  in  drilling 
bis  troops,  and  familiarising  tbem  witb  tbe  mountain 
district  wbicb  was  to  be  tbe  scene  of  tbeir  operations. 
"Wbile  tbus  engaged,  be  received  an  urgent  message 
from  tbe  Protestant  berdsmen  of  tbe  bill-country  of 
Yebron,  wbose  cattle,  sbeep,  and  goats  a  band  of 
royalist  militia,  under  Colonel  Miral,  bad  captured,  and 
were  driving  nortbward  towards  Florae.  Laporte 
immediately  ran  to  tbeir  belp,  and  posted  bimself  to 
intercept  tbem  at  tbe  bridge  of  Tarnon,  wbicb  tbe}^  must 
cross.  On  tbe  militia  coming  up,  tbe  Camisards  fell 
upon  tbem  furiously,  on  wbicb  tbey  took  to  fligbt,  and 
tbe  cattle  were  driven  back  in  triumpb  to  tbe  villages. 

Laporte  tben  led  bis  victorious  troops  towards 
Collet,  tbe  village  in  wbicb  bis  brotber  had  been 
pastor.  Tbe  temple  in  wbicb  be  ministered  was  still 
standing — tbe  only  one  in  tbe  Cevennes  tbat  bad  not 
been  demolisbed,  tbe  Seigneur  of  tbe  place  intending 
to  convert  it  into  a  bospital.  Collet  was  at  present 
occupied  by  a  company  of  fusiliers,  commanded  by 
Captain  Cabrieres.  On  nearing  tbe  place,  Laporte 
wrote  to  tbis  officer,  under  an  assumed  name,  intimating 
tbat  a  religious  assembly  was  to  be  bold  tbat  nigbt  in  a 
certain  wood  in  tbe  neigbbourbood.  Tbe  captain  at 
once  marcbed  tbitber  witb  bis  men,  on  wbicb  Laporte 
entered  tbe  village,  and  reopened  tbe  temple,  wbicb 
bad  continued  unoccupied  since  tbe  day  on  wbicb  bis 
brotber  bad  gone  into  exile.  All  tbat  nigbt  Laporte 
sang  psalms,  preached,  and  praj^ed  by  turns,  solemnly 
invoking  tbe  belp  of  tbe  God  of  battles  in  this  holy 
war  in  which  he  was  engaged  for  tbe  liberation  of  bis 
country.     Shortly  before  daybreak,  Laporte   and   his 


114  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

coinpaiiio2.s  retired  from  the  temple,  and  after  setting 
fire  to  the  Koman  Catholic  church,  and  the  houses  of 
the  consul,  the  captain,  and  the  cure,  he  left  the 
village,  and  proceeded  in  a  northerly  direction. 

That  same  morning.  Captain  Poul  arrived  at  the 
neighbouring  valley  of  St.  Germain,  for  the  purpose  of 
superintending  tlie  demolition  of  certain  Protestant 
dwellings,  and  then  he  heard  of  Laporte's  midnight 
expedition.  He  immediately  hastened  to  Collet, 
assembled  all  the  troops  he  could  muster,  and  put 
himself  on  the  track  of  the  Camisards.  After  a  hot 
march  of  about  two  hours  in  the  direction  of  Coudouloux, 
Poul  discerned  Laporte  and  his  band  encamped  on  a 
lofty  height,  from  the  scarped  foot  of  which  a  sloping 
grove  of  chestnuts  descended  into  the  wide  grassy 
plain,  known  as  the  "  Champ  Domergue." 

The  chestnut  grove  had  in  ancient  times  been  one  of 
the  sacred  places  of  the  Druids,  who  celebrated  their 
mysterious  lites  in  its  recesses,  while  the  adjoining 
mountains  were  said  to  have  been  the  honoured  haunts 
of  certain  of  the  divinities  of  ancient  Gaul.  It  w^as 
therefore  regarded  as  a  sort  of  sacred  place,  and  this 
circumstance  was  probably  not  without  its  influence  in 
rendering  it  one  of  the  most  frequent  resorts  of  the 
hunted  Protestants  in  their  midnight  assemblies,  as 
well  as  because  it  occupied  a  central  position  between 
the  villages  of  St.  Frezal,  St.  Andeol,  Deze,  and  Yiolas. 
Laporte  had  now  come  hither  with  his  companions  to 
pray,  and  they  were  so  engaged  when  the  scouts  oji 
the  look-out  annoimced  the  approach  of  the  enemy. 

Poul  halted  his  men  to  take  breath,  while  Laporte 
held  a  little  council  of  war.  What  was  to  be  done  ? 
Laporte  himself  was  in  favour  of  accepting  battle  on 
the  spot,  while  several  of  his  lieutenants  advised  imme- 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.     115 

diate  fliglit  into  tlie  mountains.  On  the  otlier  liand, 
tlie  young  and  impetuous  Cavalier,  ^\o  was  there, 
supported  the  opinion  of  his  chief,  and  urged  an  im- 
mediate attack ;  and  an  attack  was  determined  on 
accordingly. 

The  little  band  descended  from  their  vantaore-g-round 
on  the  hill,  and  came  down  into  the  chestnut  wood, 
singing  the  sixty-eighth  Psalm — "Let  God  arise,  let 
his  enemies  be  scattered."  The  followincj  is  the  sons: 
itself,  in  the  words  of  Marot.  When  the  Huguenots 
sang  it,  each  soldier  became  a  lion  in  courage. 

"  Que  Dieu  se  montre  seulement 
Et  Ton  verra  dans  un  momeut 

Abandonner  la  place ; 
Le  camp  des  ennemies  epars, 
Epouvante  de  toutes  parts, 

Fuira  devant  sa  face. 

On  verra  tout  ce  camp  s'enfuir, 
Comme  Ton  voit  s'evanouir 

Une  epaisse  fumee ; 
Comme  la  cire  fond  au  feu, 
Ainsi  des  mechants  devant  DIeu, 

La  force  est  consumee. 

L'Eternel  est  notre  recours  : 
Nous  obtenons  par  son  secours, 

Pius  d'une  deliverance. 
C'est  Lui  qui  fut  notre  support, 
Et  qui  tient  les  clefs  de  la  mort, 

Lui  seul  en  sa  puissance. 

A  nous  defendre  toujours  prompt, 
II  frappe  le  superbe  front 

De  la  troupe  ennemie  ; 
On  verra  tomber  sous  ses  coups 
Ceux  qui  provoquent  son  courroux 

Par  leur  mechante  vie. 

This  was  the  '^  Marseillaise"  of  the  Camisards,  their 
war-song  in  many  battles,  sung  by  them  as  a  pas  de 
charge  to  the  music  of  Goudimal.  Poul,  seeing  them 
approach  from  under  cover  of  the  wood,  charged  them 


Ti6  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

at  once,  shouting  to  his  men,  "  Charge,  kill,  kill  the 
Barbets!"*  But  "the  Barbets,''  though  they  were 
only  as  one  to  three  of  their  assailants,  bravely  held 
their  ground.  Those  who  had  muskets  kept  up  a 
fusilade,  whilst  a  body  of  scythemen  in  the  centre 
i^epulsed  Poul,  who  attacked  them  with  the  bayonet. 
Several  of  these  terrible  scythemen  were,  however,  slain, 
and  three  were  taken  prisoners. 

Laporte,  finding  that  he  could  not  drive  Poul  back, 
retreated  slowly  into  the  wood,  keeping  up  a  running 
fire,  and  reasccnded  the  hill,  whither  Poul  durst  not 
follow  him.  The  Poyalist  leader  was  satisfied  with 
remaining  master  of  the  hard-fought  field,  on  which 
many  of  his  soldiers  lay  dead,  together  with  a  captain 
of  militia. 

The  Camisard  chiefs  then  separated,  Laporte  and  his 
band  taking  a  westerly  direction.  The  Poj^alists, 
having  received  considerable  reinforcements,  hastened 
from  different  directions  to  intercept  him,  but  he  slipj^ed 
through  their  fingers,  and  descended  to  Pont-de-Mont- 
vert,  from  whence  he  threw  himself  upon  the  villages 
situated  near  the  sources  of  the  western  Garden.  At 
the  same  time,  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  Ptoyalists, 
the  other  Camisard  leaders  descended,  the  one  towards 
the  south,  and  the  other  towards  the  east,  disarming 
the  Poman  Catholics,  currying  off  their  arms,  and 
spreading  consternation  wherever  they  went. 

Meanwhile,  Count  Broglie,  Captain  Poul,  Colonel 
Miral,  and  the  commanders  of  the  soldiers  and  militia 
all  over  the  Cevennes,  were  hunting  the  Protestants 
and  their  families  wherever  found,  j^illaging  their 
houses,  driving  away  their  cattle,   and  burning  their 

*  The  "  Barbets  "  (or  "  Water-dogs  ")  was  the  nickname  by  which 
the  Vaudois  were  called,  against  whom  Poul  had  formerly  beau  em- 
ployed in  the  Italian  valleys. 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS,    ii-j 

huts  ;  and  it  was  evident  tliat  tlie  war  on  both,  sides 
was  fast  drifting  into  one  of  reprisal  and  revenge. 
Brigands,  belonging  to  neither  side,  organized  them- 
selves in  bodies,  and  robbed  Protestants  and  Catholics 
with  equal  impartiality. 

One  effect  of  this  state  of  things  was  rapidly  to 
increase  the  numbers  of  the  disaffected.  The  dwellings 
of  many  of  the  Protestants  having  been  destroyed, 
such  of  the  homeless  fugitives  as  could  bear  arms  fled 
into  the  mountains  to  join  the  Camisards,  whose 
numbers  were  thus  augmented,  notwithstanding  the 
measures  taken  for  their  extermination. 

Laporte  was  at  last  tracked  by  his  indefatigable 
enemy,  Captain  Poul,  who  burned  to  wipe  out  the  dis- 
grace which  he  conceived  himself  to  have  suffered  at 
Champ-Domergue.  Information  was  conveyed  to  him 
that  Laporte  and  his  band  were  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Molezon  on  the  western  Garden,  and  that  they 
intended  to  hold  a  field-meeting  there  on  Sunday,  the 
22nd  of  October. 

Poul  made  his  dispositions  accordingly.  Dividing 
his  force  into  two  bodies,  he  fell  upon  the  insurgents 
impetuously  from  two  sides,  taking  them  completely  by 
surprise.  They  hastily  put  themselves  in  order  of 
battle,  but  their  muskets,  wet  with  rain,  would  not 
fire,  and  Laporte  hastened  with  his  men  to  seek  the 
shelter  of  a  cliff  near  at  hand.  While  in  the  act  of 
springing  from  one  rock  to  another,  he  was  seen  to 
stagger  and  fall.  He  had  been  shot  dead  by  a  musket 
bullet,  and  his  career  was  thus  brought  to  a  sudden 
close.     His  followers  at  once  fled  in  all  directions. 

Poul  cut  off  Laporte's  head,  as  well  as  the  heads  of 
the  other  Camisards  who  had  been  killed,  and  sent  them 
in  two  baskets  to  Count  BrogKe.      Next  day  the  heads 


ii8  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

were  exposed  on  the  bridge  of  Anduze  ;  tlie  day  after 
on  tlie  castle  wall  of  St.  Hj^polite  ;  after  wliicli  these 
ghastly  trophies  of  Poul's  yictory  were  sent  to  Mont- 
pellier  to  be  permanently  exposed  on  the  Peyrou. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Laporte,  the  second  leader  of 
the  Camisards.  Seguier,  the  first,  had  been  chief  for 
only  six  days  ;  Laporte,  the  second,  for  only  about  two 
months.  Again  Baville  supposed  the  pacification  of 
the  Cevennes  to  be  complete.  lie  imagined  that  Poul, 
in  cutting  ofi'Laporte's  head,  had  decapitated  the  insur- 
rection. But  the  Camisard  ranks  had  never  been  so 
full  as  now,  swelled  as  they  were  b}"  the  persecutions 
of  the  Royalists,  who,  by  demolishing  the  homes  of 
the  peasantry,  had  in  a  measure  forced  them  into  th  e 
arms  of  the  insurgents.  Nor  were  they  ever  better 
supplied  with  leaders,  even  though  Laporte  had  fallen. 
No  sooner  did  his  death  become  known,  than  the 
"Children  of  God"  held  a  solemn  assembly  in  the 
mountains,  at  which  Poland,  Castanet,  Salomon, 
Abraham,  and  young  Cavalier  were  present ;  and 
after  lamenting  the  death  of  their  chief,  they  with  one 
accord  elected  Laporte's  nephew,  Poland,  as  his  suc- 
cessor. 

A  few  words  as  to  the  associates  of  Poland,  whose 
fiimily  and  origin  have  already  been  described.  Andre 
Castanet  of  Massavaque,  in  the  L^pper  Cevennes,  had 
been  a  goatherd  in  his  youth,  after  which  he  worked 
at  his  father's  trade  of  a  wool-carder.  An  avowed 
Huguenot,  he  was,  shortly  after  the  peace  of  Pyswick, 
hunted  out  of  the  country  because  of  his  attending  the 
meetings  in  the  Desert;  but  in  1700  he  returned  to 
preach  and  to  prophesy,  acting  also  as  a  forest-ranger 
in  the  Aigoal  Mountains.     Of  all  the  chiefs  he  was  the 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  C AMI  SARDS.    119 

greatest  controversialist,  and  in  his  capacity  of  preacher 
lie  distinguished  himself  from  his  companions  by  wear- 
ing a  wig.  There  must  have  been  something  comical 
in  his  appearance,  for  Brueys  describes  him  as  a  little, 
squat,  bandy-legged  man,  presenting  "  the  figure  of 
a  little  bear."  But  it  was  an  enemy  who  drew  the 
picture. 

Next  there  was  Salomon  Conderc,  also  a  wool -carder, 
a  native  of  the  hamlet  of  Mazelrode,  south  of  the 
mountain  of  Bouges.  For  twenty  years  the  Condercs, 
father  and  son,  had  been  zealous  worshippers  in  the 
Desert — Salomon  having  acted  by  turns  as  Bible- 
reader,  precentor,  preacher,  and  prophet.  We  have 
already  referred  to  the  gift  of  prophesying.  All  the 
leaders  of  the  Camisards  were  prophets.  Elie  Marion, 
in  his  "  Theatre  Sacre  de  Cevennes,"  thus  describes  the 
influence  of  the  prophets  on  the  Camisard  War  : — 

*'  We  were  without  strength  and  without  counsel," 
says  he  ;  "  but  our  inspirations  were  our  succour  and 
our  support.  They  elected  our  leaders,  and  conducted 
them  ;  they  were  our  military  discipline.  It  was  they 
who  raised  us,  even  weakness  itself,  to  put  a  strong 
bridle  upon  an  army  of  more  than  twenty  thousand 
picked  soldiers.  It  was  they  who  banished  sorrow  from 
our  hearts  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  peril,  as  well  as 
in  the  deserts  and  the  mountain  fastnesses,  when  cold 
and  famine  oppressed  us.  Our  heaviest  crosses  were  but 
lightsome  burdens,  for  this  intimate  communion  that 
Grod  allowed  us  to  have  with  Him  bore  up  and  consoled 
us ;  it  was  our  safety  and  our  happiness." 

Many  of  the  Condercs  had  suffered  for  their  faith. 
The  archpriest  Chayla  had  persecuted  them  grievously. 
One  of  their  sisters  was  seized  by  the  soldiery  and 
carried  off  to  be  immured  in  a  convent  at  Mende,  but 


120  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

was  rescued  on  the  ^yay  by  Salomon  and  liis  brother 
Jacques.  Of  tbe  two,  Salomon,  though,  deformed,  had 
the  greatest  gift  in  prophesying,  and  hence  the  choice 
of  him  as  a  leader. 

Abraham  Mazel  belonged  to  the  same  hamlet  as 
Conderc.  They  were  both  of  the  same  age — about 
twenty-five — of  the  same  trade,  and  they  were  as 
inseparable  as  brothers.  They  had  both  been  engaged 
with  Seguier's  band  in  the  midnight  attack  on  Pont-de- 
Montvert,  and  were  alike  committed  to  the  desperate 
enterprise  they  had  taken  in  hand.  The  tribe  of  Mazel 
abounds  in  the  Ceyennes,  and  thoj^  had  already  given 
many  martyrs  to  the  cause.  Some  emigrated  to 
America,  some  were  sent  to  the  galleys ;  Oliver  Mazel, 
the  preacher,  was  hanged  at  Montpellier  in  1690, 
Jacques  Mazel  was  a  refugee  in  London  in  1701,  and 
in  all  the  combats  of  the  Cevennes  there  were  Mazels 
leading  as  well  as  following. 

Nicholas  Joan}^  of  Genouilliac,  was  an  old  soldier, 
who  had  seen  much  service,  having  been  for  some  time 
quartermaster  of  the  regiment  of  Orleans.  Among 
other  veterans  who  served  with  the  Camisards,  were 
Esperandieu  and  Rastelet,  two  old  sub-officers,  and 
Catinat  and  Ravenel,  two  thorough  soldiers.  Of  these 
Oatinat  achieved  the  greatest  notoriety.  His  proper 
name  was  Mauriel — Abdias  Mauriel ;  but  having 
served  as  a  dragoon  under  Marshal  Catinat  in  Italy, 
he  conceived  such  an  admiration  for  that  general,  and 
was  so  constantly  eulogizing  him,  that  his  comrades 
gave  him  the  nickname  of  Catinat,  which  he  continued 
to  bear  all  through  the  Camisard  war. 

But  the  most  distinguished  of  all  the  Camisard 
chiefs,  next  to  Roland,  was  the  youthful  John  Cavalier, 
peasant     boy,     baker's     apprentice,    and    eventually 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAMISARDS.     121 

insurgent  leader,  who,  after  baffling  and  repeatedly 
defeating  tlie  armies  of  Louis  XI Y.,  ended  his  remark- 
able career  as  governor  of  Jersey  and  major-general  in 
the  British  service. 

Cavalier  was  a  native  of  E-ibaute,  a  village  on  the 
Grardon,  a  little  below  Anduze.  Ilis  parents  were 
persons  in  humble  circumstances,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  when  John  was  of  sufficient  age  he 
was  sent  into  the  mountains  to  herd  cattle,  and  when  a 
little  older  he  was  placed  apprentice  to  a  baker  at 
Anduze. 

His  father,  though  a  Protestant  at  heart,  to  avoid 
persecution,  pretended  to  be  converted  to  Romanism, 
and  attended  Mass.  But  his  mother,  a  fervent  Calvinist, 
refused  to  conform,  and  diligently  trained  her  sons  in 
her  own  views.  She  was  a  regular  attender  of  meetings 
in  the  Desert,  to  which  she  also  took  her  children. 

Cavalier  relates  that  on  one  occasion,  when  a  very 
little  fellow,  he  went  with  her  to  an  assembly  which 
was  conducted  by  Claude  Brousson ;  and  when  he 
afterwards  heard  that  many  of  the  people  had  been 
apprehended  for  attending  it,  of  whom  some  were 
hanged  and  others  sent  to  the  galleys,  the  account  so 
shocked  him  that  he  felt  he  would  then  have  avenged 
them  if  he  had  possessed  the  power. 

As  the  boy  grew  up,  and  witnessed  the  increasing 
cruelty  with  which  conformity  was  enforced,  he  deter- 
mined to  quit  the  country  ;  and,  accompanied  by  twelve 
other  young  men,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  Geneva 
after  a  toilsome  journey  of  eight  days.  He  had  not 
been  at  Geneva  more  than  two  months,  when — heart- 
sore,  solitary,  his  eyes  constantly  turned  towards  his 
dear  Cevennes — he  accidentally  heard  that  his  father 
and  mother  had  been  thrown  into  prison  because  of  his 


122  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

fliglit — liis  father  at  Carcassoue,  and  his  mother  in  the 
dreadful  tower  of  Constance,  near  Aiguesmortes,  one  of 
the  most  notorious  prisons  of  the  Huguenots. 

He  at  dnce  determined  to  return,  in  the  hope  of  being 
able  to  get  them  set  at  liberty.  On  his  reaching 
E-ibaute,  to  his  surprise  he  found  them  already  released, 
on  condition  of  attending  Mass.  As  his  presence  in  his 
father's  house  might  only  serve  to  bring  fresh  trouble 
upon  them — he  himself  having  no  intention  of  con- 
forming— he  went  up  for  refuge  into  the  mountains  of 
the  Cevennes. 

The  young  Cavalier  was  present  at  the  midnight 
meeting  on  the  Bouges,  at  which  it  was  determined 
to  slay  the  archpriest  Chayla.  He  implored  leave  to 
accompany  the  band  ;  but  he  was  declared  to  be  too 
young  for  such  an  enterprise,  being  a  boy  of  only  six- 
teen, so  he  was  left  behind  with  his  friends. 

Being  virtually  an  outlaw,  Cavalier  afterwards 
joined  the  band  of  Laporte,  under  whom  he  served 
as  lieutenant  during  his  short  career.  At  his  death 
the  insurrection  assumed  larger  proportions,  and  re- 
cruits flocked  apace  to  the  standard  of  Eoland, 
Laporte's  successor.  Harvest-work  over,  the  youths 
of  the  Lower  Cevennes  hastened  to  join  him,  armed 
only  with  bills  and  hatchets.  The  people  of  the  Yaun- 
age  more  than  fulfilled  their  promise  to  Eoland,  and 
sent  him  five  hundred  men.  Cavalier  also  brought 
with  him  from  Eibaute  a  further  number  of  recruits, 
and  by  the  end  of  autumn  the  Camisards  under  arms, 
such  as  they  were,  amounted  to  over  a  thousand  men. 

Eoland,  unable  to  provide  quarters  or  commissariat 
for  so  large  a  number,  divided  them  into  five  bodies, 
and  sent  them  into  their  respective  cantonments  (so  to 
speak)  for  the  winter.     Eoland  himself  occupied  the 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAM/SARDS.    123 

district  known  as  the  Lower  Cevennes,  comprising  tlio 
Gardonnenque  and  the  mountain  district  situated 
between  the  rivers  Yidourle  and  the  western  Garden. 
That  part  of  the  Upper  Cevennes,  which  extends 
between  the  Anduze  branch  of  the  Gardon  and  the 
river  Tarn,  was  in  like  manner  occupied  by  a  force 
commanded  by  Abraham  Mazel  and  Solomon  Conderc, 
while  Andrew  Castanet  led  the  people  of  the  western 
Cevennes,  comprising  the  mountain  region  of  the 
Aigoal  and  the  Esperou,  near  the  sources  of  the 
Gardon  d' Anduze  and  the  Tarnon.  The  rugged  moun- 
tain district  of  the  Lozere,  in  which  the  Tarn,  the 
Ceze,  and  the  Alais  branch  of  the  Gardon  have  their 
origin,  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Joany.  And, 
finally,  the  more  open  country  towards  the  south, 
extending  from  Anduze  to  the  sea-coast,  including  the 
districts  around  Alais,  Uzes,  Nismes,  as  well  as  the 
populous  valley  of  the  Yaunage,  was  placed  under  the 
direction  of  young  Cavalier,  though  he  had  scarcely 
yet  completed  his  seventeenth  year. 

These  chiefs  were  all  elected  by  their  followers,  who 
chose  them,  not  because  of  any  military  ability  they 
might  possess,  but  entirely  because  of  their  ''gifts"  as 
preachers  and  ''prophets."  Though  Roland  and  Joany 
had  been  soldiers,  they  were  also  preachers,  as  were 
Castanet,  Abraham,  and  Salomon  ;  and  young  Cavalier 
had  glready  given  remarkable  indications  of  the  pro- 
phetic gift.  Hence,  when  it  became  the  duty  of  the 
band  to  which  he  belonged  to  select  a  chief,  they 
passed  over  the  old  soldiers,  Esperandieu,  Raslet, 
Catinat,  and  Kavenel,  and  pitched  upon  the  young 
baker  lad  of  Ribaute,  not  because  he  could  fight,  but 
because  he  could  preach  ;  and  the  old  soldiers  cheer- 
fully submitted  themselves  to  his  leadership. 


124  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

The  portrait  of  this  remarkable  Camisard  chief 
represents  him  as  a  little  handsome  youth,  fair  and 
rudd}^  complexioned,  with  lively  and  prominent  blue 
eyes,  and  a  large  head,  from  whence  his  long  fair  hair 
hung  floating  over  his  shoulders.  His  companions 
recognised  in  him  a  suj^posed  striking  resemblance  to 
the  scriptural  portrait  of  David,  the  famous  shepherd 
of  Israel. 

The  Camisard  legions,  spread  as  they  now  were  over 
the  entire  Cevennes,  and  embracing  Lower  Languedoc 
as  far  as  the  sea,  were  for  the  most  part  occupied  during 
the  winter  of  1702-3  in  organizing  themselves,  obtaining 
arms,  and  increasing  their  forces.  The  respective  dis- 
tricts which  they  occupied  were  so  many  recruiting- 
grounds,  and  by  the  end  of  the  season  they  had 
enrolled  nearly  three  thousand  men.  They  were  still, 
however,  very  badly  armed.  Their  weapons  included 
fowling-pieces,  old  matchlocks,  muskets  taken  from  the 
militia,  pistols,  sabres,  scythes,  hatchets,  billhooks, 
and  even  ploughshares.  They  were  very  short  of 
powder,  and  what  they  had  was  mostly  bought  sur- 
reptitiously from  the  King's  soldiers,  or  by  messengers 
sent  for  the  purpose  to  Kismes  and  Avignon.  But 
Roland,  finding  that  such  sources  of  supply  could  not 
be  depended  upon,  resolved  to  manufacture  his  own 
powder. 

A  commissariat  was  also  established,  and  the  most 
spacious  caves  in  the  most  sequestered  places  were 
sought  out  and  converted  into  magazines,  hospitals, 
granaries,  cellars,  arsenals,  and  powder  factories. 
Thus  Mialet,  with  its  extensive  caves,  was  the  head- 
quarters of  Ivoland ;  Bouquet  and  the  caves  at  Euzet, 
of  Cavalier ;  Cassagnacs  and  the  caves  at  Magis- 
tavols,  of  Salomon ;  and  so  on  with  the  others.     Each 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  C  AMI  SARDS.    125 

cliief  had  his  respective  canton,  his  granary,  his  maga- 
zine, and  his  arsenal.  To  each  retreat  was  attached  a 
special  body  of  tradesmen — millers,  bakers,  shoe- 
makers, tailors,  armourers,  and  other  mechanics  ;  and 
each  had  its  special  guards  and  sentinels. 

"We  have  already  referred  to  the  peculiar  geological 
features  of  the  Cevennes,  and  to  the  limestone  strata  which 
embraces  the  whole  granitic  platform  of  the  southern 
border  almost  like  a  frame.  As  is  almost  invariably 
the  case  in  such  formations,  large  caves,  occasioned  by 
the  constant  dripping  of  water,  are  of  frequent  occur- 
rence ;  and  those  of  the  Cevennes,  which  are  in  many 
places  of  great  extent,  constituted  a  peculiar  feature  in 
the  Camisard  insurrection.  There  is  one  of  such  caves 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Protestant  town  of  Ganges, 
on  the  river  Herault,  which  often  served  as  a  refuge  for 
the  Huguenots,  though  it  is  now  scarcely  penetrable 
because  of  the  heavy  falls  of  stone  from  the  roof.  This 
cavern  has  two  entrances,  one  from  the  river  Herault, 
the  other  from  the  Mendesse,  and  it  extends  under  the 
entire  mountain,  which  separates  the  two  rivers.  It  is 
still  known  as  the  ''  Camisards'  Grotto."  There  are 
numerous  others  of  a  like  character  all  over  the  district ; 
but  as  those  of  Mialet  were  of  special  importance — Mialet, 
"  the  Metropolis  of  the  Insurrection,"  being  the  head- 
quarters of  Koland — it  will  be  sufficient  if  we  briefly 
describe  a  visit  paid  to  them  in  the  month  of  June,  1870. 

The  town  of  Anduze  is  the  little  capital  of  the 
Gardonnenque,  a  district  which  has  always  been  exclu- 
sively Protestant.  Even  at  the  present  day,  of  the 
5,200  inhabitants  of  Anduze,  4,600  belong  to  that 
faith  ;  and  these  include  the  principal  proprietors,  cul- 
tivators, and  manufacturers  of  the  town    and   neigh- 


1 2  6  THE  HUG  UENOTS. 

bourhood.  D  tiring  tlie  wars  of  religion,  Andiize  was 
one  of  tlie  Huguenot  strongholds.  After  the  death,  of 
Henry  IV.  the  district  continued  to  be  held  by  the 
Due  de  Rohan,  the  ruins  of  whose  castle  are  still  to  be 
seen  on  the  summit  of  a  pyramidal  hill  on  the  north  of 
the  town.  Anduze  is  jammed  in  between  the  precipi- 
tous mountain  of  St.  Julien,  which  rises  behind  it,  and 
the  river  Garden,  along  which  a  modern  quay-wall 
extends,  forming  a  pleasant  promenade  as  well  as  a 
barrier  against  the  furious  torrents  which  rush  down 
from  the  mountains  in  winter. 

A  little  above  the  town,  the  river  passes  through  a 
rocky  gorge  formed  by  the  rugged  grey  cliffs  of  Peyre- 
male  on  the  one  bank  and  St.  Julien  on  the  other.  The 
bare  precipitous  rocks  rise  up  on  either  side  like  two 
Cyclopean  towers,  flanking  the  gateway  of  the  Cevennes. 
The  gorge  is  so  narrow  at  bottom  that  there  is  room 
only  for  the  river  running  in  its  rocky  bed  below,  and  a 
roadway  along  either  bank — that  on  the  eastern  side 
having  been  partly  formed  by  blasting  out  the  cliff 
which  overhangs  it. 

After  crossing  the  five-arched  bridge  which  spans 
the  Garden,  the  road  proceeds  along  the  eastern  bank, 
up  the  valley  towards  Mialet.  It  being  market-day 
at  Anduze,  well-clad  peasants  were  flocking  into  the 
town,  some  in  their  little  pony-carts,  others  with  their 
baskets  or  bundles  of  produce,  and  each  had  his  *'  Bon 
jour,  messieurs  !"  for  us  as  we  passed.  So  long  as  the 
road  held  along  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  passing 
through  the  scattered  hamlets  and  villages  north  of 
the  town,  our  little  springless  cart  got  along  cleverly 
enough.  But  after  we  had  entered  the  narrower  valley 
higher  up,  and  the  cultivated  ground  became  confined 
to  a  little  strip  along  either  bank,  then  the  mountain 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  C  AMI  SARDS.    127 

barriers  seemed  to  rise  in  front  of  us  and  on  all  sides, 
and  the  road  became  winding,  steep,  and  difficult. 

A  few  miles  up  the  valley,  the  little  hamlet  of  Massou- 
beyran,  consisting  of  a  group  of  peasant  cottages — one 
of  which  was  the  birthplace  of  Roland,  the  Camisard 
chief — w^as  seen  on  a  hill- side  to  the  right ;  and  about 
two  miles  further  on,  at  a  bend  of  the  road,  wo  came 
in  sight  of  the  Tillage"  of  Mialet,  with  its  whitewashed, 
ilat-roofed  cottages — forming  a  little  group  of  peasants' 
houses  lying  in  the  hollow  of  the  hills.  The  principal 
building  in  it  is  the  Protestant  temple,  which  continues 
to  be  frequented  by  the  inhabitants ;  the  Anuuaire  Pro- 
testante  for  1868-70,  stating  the  Protestant  population 
of  the  district  to  be  1,325.  Strange  to  say,  the  present 
pastor,  M.  Seguier,  bears  the  name  of  the  first  leader 
of  the  Camisard  insurrection ;  and  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  consistory,  M.  Laporte,  is  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  second  and  third  leaders. 

From  its  secluded  and  secure  position  among  the 
hills,  as  well  as  because  of  its  proximity  to  the  great 
Temelac  road  constructed  by  BaAdlle,  which  passed 
from  Anduze  by  St.  Jean-de-Gard  into  the  Upper 
Cevennes,  Mialet  was  well  situated  as  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Camisard  chief.  But  it  was  principally 
because  of  the  numerous  limestone  caves  abounding 
in  the  locality,  which  afibrded  a  ready  hiding- 
place  for  the  inhabitants  in  the  event  of  the  enemies' 
approach,  as  well  as  because  they  were  capable  of 
being  adapted  for  the  purpose  of  magazines,  stores, 
and  hospitals,  that  Mialet  became  of  so  much  import- 
ance as  the  citadel  of  the  insurgents.  One  of  such 
caverns  or  grottoes  is  still  to  be  seen  about  a  mile 
below  Mialet,  of  extraordinary  magnitude.  It  extends 
under  the  hill  which  rises  up  on  the  right-hand  side  of 


128  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

tlie  road,  and  is  entered  from  behind,  nearly  at  the 
summit.  The  entrance  is  narrow  and  difficult,  but  the 
interior  is  large  and  spacious,  widening  out  in  some 
places  into  dome-shaped  chambers,  with  stalactites  hang- 
ing from  the  roof.  The  whole  extent  of  this  cavern 
cannot  be  much  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  judging 
from  the  time  it  took  to  explore  it  and  to  return  from 
the  furthest  point  in  the  interior  to  the  entrance.  The 
existence  of  this  place  had  been  forgotten  until  a  few 
years  ago,  when  it  was  rediscovered  by  a  man  of 
Anduzc,  who  succeeded  in  entering  it,  but,  being  unable 
to  find  his  way  out,  he  remained  there  for  three  days 
without  food,  until  the  alarm  was  given  and  his  friends 
came  to  his  rescue  and  delivered  him. 

Immediately  behind  the  village  of  Mialet,  under  the 
side  of  the  hill,  is  another  large  cavern,  with  other 
grottoes  branching  out  of  it,  capable,  on  an  emergency, 
of  accommodating  the  whole  population.  This  was  used 
by  Roland  as  his  principal  magazine.  But  perhaps 
the  most  interesting  of  these  caves  is  the  one  used  as 
a  hospital  for  the  sick  and  wounded.  It  is  situated 
about  a  mile  above  Mialet,  in  a  limestone  cliff'  almost 
overhanging  the  river.  The  approach  to  it  is  steep 
and  difficult,  up  a  footpatb  cut  in  the  face  of  the  rock. 
At  length  a  little  platform  is  reached,  about  a  hundred 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  river,  behind  which  is  a  low 
wall  extending  across  the  entrance  to  the  cavern.  This 
wall  is  pierced  with  two  openings,  intended  for  two 
culverins,  one  of  which  commanded  the  road  leading 
down  the  pass,  and  the  other  the  road  up  the  valley 
from  the  direction  of  the  village.  The  outer  vault  is 
large  and  roomy,  and  extends  back  into  a  lofty  dome- 
shaped  cavern  about  forty  feet  high,  behind  which  a 
long  tortuous  vault  extends  for  several  hundred  feet. 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  CAiMISARDS.    129 

The  place  is  quite  cliy,  and  suiBficiently  spacious  to 
accommodate  a  large  number  of  persons ;  and  there 
can  be  do  doubt  as  to  the  uses  to  which  it  was  applied 
during  the  wars  of  the  Cevennes. 

The  person  who  guided  us  to  the  cave  was  an  ordinary 
working  man  of  the  Tillage — a]3parently  a  blacksmith 
— a  well-informed,  intelligent  person — who  left  his 
smithy,  opposite  the  Protestant  temple  at  which  our 
pony-cart  drew  up,  to  show  us  over  the  place  ;  and  he 
took  pride  in  relating  the  traditions  which  continue  to 
be  handed  down  from  father  to  son  relating  to  the  great 
Camisard  war  of  the  Cevennes. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EXPLOITS   OF    CAVALIER. 

ri^HE  country  round  Msmes,  which  was  the  scene  of 
J-  so  many  contests  between  the  loyalists  and  the 
Camisard  insurgents  at  the  beginning  of  Last  century, 
presents  nearly  the  same  aspect  as  it  did  then,  excepting 
that  it  is  traversed  by  railways  in  several  directions.  The 
railway  to  Montpellier  on  the  west,  crosses  the  fertile 
valley  of  the  Yaunage,  "  the  little  Canaan,"  still  rich  in 
vineyards  as  of  old.  That  to  Alais  on  the  north, 
proceeds  for  the  most  part  along  the  valley  of  the 
Garden,  the  names  of  the  successive  stations  reminding 
the  passing  traveller  of  the  embittered  contests  of  which 
they  were  the  scenes  in  former  times  :  Nozieres,  Bou- 
cairan,  Ners,  Yezenobres,  and  Alais  itself,  now  a  con- 
siderable manufacturing  town,  and  the  centre  of  an 
important  coal-mining  district. 

The  country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nismes  is  by 
no  means  picturesque.  Though  undulating,  it  is 
barren,  arid,  and  stony.  The  view  from  the  Tour 
Magne,  Avhich  is  verj^  extensive,  is  over  an  apparently 
skeleton  landscape,  the  bare  rocks  rising  on  all  sides 
Avithout  any  covering  of  verdure.  In  summer  the  grass 
is  parched  and  brown.  There  are  few  trees  visible  ; 
and  these  mostly  mulberrv,  which,  when  cropped,  have 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  131 

a  blasted  look.  Yet,  wherever  soil  exists,  in  the 
bottoms,  the  land  is  very  productive,  yielding  olives, 
grapes,  and  chestnuts  in  great  abundance. 

As  we  ascend  the  valley  of  the  Garden,  the  country 
becomes  more  undulating  and  better  wooded.  The 
villages  and  formhouses  have  all  an  old-fashioned  look  ; 
not  a  modern  villa  is  to  be  seen.  We  alight  from  the 
train  at  the  Ners  station — ]Srers,  where  Cavalier  drove 
Montrevel's  army  across  the  river,  and  near  which,  at 
the  village  of  Martinargues,  he  comjoletely  defeated  the 
Boyalists  under  Lajonquiere.  We  went  to  see  the  scene 
of  the  battle,  some  three  miles  to  the  south-east,  pass- 
ing through  a  well-tilled  country,  with  the  peasants 
busily  at  work  in  the  fields.  From  the  high  ground 
behind  JN^ers  a  fine  view  is  obtained  of  the  valley  of  the 
Garden,  overlooking  the  junction  of  its  two  branches 
descending  by  Alais  and  Anduze,  the  mountains  of  the 
Cevennes  rising  up  in  the  distance.  To  the  left  is  the 
fertile  valley  of  Beaurivage,  celebrated  in  the  Pastorals 
of  Florian,  who  was  a  native  of  the  district. 

Descending  the  hill  towards  Ners,  we  were  overtaken 
by  an  aged  peasant  of  the  village,  with  a  scythe  over 
his  shoulder,  returning  from  his  morning's  work.  There 
was  the  usual  polite  greeting  and  exchange  of  salu- 
tations— for  the  French  peasant  is  by  nature  polite — 
and  a  ready  opening  was  afibrded  for  conversation.  It 
turned  out  that  the  old  man  had  been  a  soldier  of  the 
first  empire,  and  fought  under  Soult  in  the  desperate 
battle  of  Toulouse  in  1814.  He  was  now  nearly  eighty, 
but  was  still  able  to  do  a  fair  day's  work  in  the  fields. 
Inviting  us  to  enter  his  dwelling  and  partake  of  his 
hospitality,  he  went  down  to  his  cellar  and  fetched  there- 
from a  jug  of  light  sparkling  wine,  of  which  we  partook. 
In  answer  to  an  inquiry  whether  there  were  any  Pro- 

10 


132  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

testants  in  tlie  neiglibourlioocl,  tlie  old  man  rej)lled  tliat 
Ners  was  "  all  Protestant."  His  grandson,  liowever, 
wlio  was  present,  qualified  this  sweeping  statement  by 
tlie  remark,  8otto  I'OCCj  that  many  of  them  were 
**  nothing/' 

The  conversation  then  turned  upon  the  subject  of 
Cavalier  and  his  exploits,  when  our  entertainer  launched 
out  into  a  description  of  the  battle  of  Martinargues,  in 
which  the  Royalists  had  been  "  toutes  abattus/'  Like 
most  of  the  Protestant  peasantry  of  the  Cevennes,  he 
displayed  a  very  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  events 
of  the  civil  war,  and  spoke  with  enthusiasm  and  honest 
pride  of  the  achievements  of  the  Camisards. 

We  have  in  previous  chapters  described  the  outbreak 
of  the  insurrection  and  its  spread  throughout  the  Upper 
Cevennes ;  and  we  have  now  rapidly  to  note  its  growth 
and  progress  to  its  culmination  and  fall. 

While  the  Camisards  were  secretly  organizing  their 
forces  under  cover  of  the  woods  and  caves  of  the  moun- 
tain districts,  the  governor  of  Languedoc  was  indulging 
in  the  hope  that  the  insurrection  had  expired  with  the 
death  of  Laporte  and  the  dispersion  of  his  band.  But, 
to  his  immense  surprise,  the  whole  country  was  suddenly 
covered  with  insurgents,  who  seemed  as  if  to  spring 
from  the  earth  in  all  quarters  simultaneously.  Mes- 
sengers brought  him  intelligence  at  the  same  time  of 
risings  in  the  mountains  of  ih.Q  Lozere  and  the  Aigoal, 
in  the  neighbourhoods  of  Anduze  and  Alais,  and  even 
in  the  open  country  about  Nismes  and  Calvisson,  down 
almost  to  the  sea-coast. 

Wherever  the  churches  had  been  used  as  garrisons 
and  depositories  of  arms,  they  were  attacked,  stormed, 
and  burnt.      Cavalier  says  he  never  meddled  with  any 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER,  133 

cliiircli  whicli  had  not  been  tliiis  converted  into  a  ''  den 
of  thieves ;  '^  but  the  other  leaders  were  less  scrupulous. 
Salomon  and  Abraham  destroyed  all  the  establishments 
and  insignia  of  their  enemies  on  which  they  could  lay 
hands — crosses,  churches,  and  presbyteries.  The  cure 
of  Saint-Gerinain  said  of  Castanet  in  the  Aigoal  that  he 
was  "like  a  raging  torrent."  Roland  and  Joany  ran 
from  village  to  village  ransacking  dwellings,  chateaux, 
churches,  and  collecting  arms.  Knowing  every  foot  of 
the  country,  they  rapidly  passed  by  mountain  tracks 
from  one  village  to  another  ;  suddenly  appearing  in  the 
least- expected  quarters,  while  the  troops  in  pursuit  of 
them  had  passed  in  other  directions. 

Cavalier  had  even  the  hardihood  to  descend  upon  the 
low  country,  and  to  ransack  the  Catholic  villages  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Msmes.  By  turns  he  fought,  preached, 
and  sacked  churches.  About  the  middle  of  November, 
1702,  he  preached  at.  Aiguevives,  a  village  not  far  from 
Calvisson,  in  theYaunage.  Count  Broglie,  commander 
of  the  royal  troops,  hastened  from  Nismes  to  intercept 
him.  But  pursuing  Cavalier  was  like  pursuing  a 
shadow  ;  he  had  already  made  his  escape  into  the 
mountains.  Broglie  assembled  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  in  the  church,  and  demanded  to  be  informed 
who  had  been  present  with  the  Camisard  preacher. 
"All!"  was  the  reply:  "we  are  all  guilty."  He 
seized  the  principal  persons  of  the  place  and  sent  them 
to  Baville.  Four  were  hanged,  twelve  were  sent  to  the 
galleys,  many  more  were  flogged,  and  a  heavy  fine  was 
levied  on  the  entire  village. 

Meanwhile,  Cavalier  had  joined  Eoland  near  Mialet, 
and  again  descended  upon  the  low  country,  marching 
through  the  villages  along  the  valley  of  the  Yidourle, 
carrying  off  arms  and  devastating  churches.     Broglie 


134-  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

sent  two  strong  bodies  of  troops  to  intercept  tliem  ; 
but  tbe  light-footed  insurgents  had  already  crossed 
the  Gardon. 

A  few  days  later  (December  5tli),  tbey  were  lying 
concealed  in  the  forest  of  Yaquieres,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Cavalier's  head-quarters  at  Euzet.  Their  re- 
treat having  been  discovered,  a  strong  force  of  soldiers 
and  militia  was  directed  upon  them,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Chevalier  Montarnaud  (who,  being  a  new 
convert,  wished  to  show  his  zeal),  and  Captain  Bimard 
of  the  IS^ismes  militia. 

They  took  with  them  a  herdsman  of  the  neighbour- 
hood for  their  guide,  not  knowing  that  he  was  a  con- 
federate of  the  Camisards.  Leading  the  Koyalists  into 
the  wood,  he  guided  them  along  a  narrow  ravine,  and 
hearing  no  sound  of  the  insurgents,  it  was  supposed  that 
they  were  lying  asleep  in  their  camp. 

Suddenly  three  sentinels  on  the  outlook  fired  off 
their  pieces.  At  this  signal  E-avenel  posted  himself  at 
the  outlet  of  the  defile,  and  Cavalier  and  Catinat  along 
its  two  sides.  Raising  their  war-song,  the  sixty-eighth 
psalm,  the  Camisards  furiously  charged  the  enem3\ 
Captain  Bimard  fell  at  the  first  fire.  Montarnaud 
turned  and  fled  with  such  of  the  soldiers  and  militia  as 
could  follow  him  ;  and  not  many  of  them  succeeded  in 
making  their  escape  from  the  wood. 

"  After  which  comjDlete  victory,"  says  Cavalier,  "  we 
returned  to  the  field  of  battle  to  give  our  hearty  thanks 
to  Almighty  God  for  his  extraordinary  assistance,  and 
afterwards  stripped  the  corpses  of  the  enemy,  and 
secured  their  arms.  We  found  a  purse  of  one  hundred 
pistoles  in  Captain  Bimard's  pocket,  which  was  very 
acceptable,  for  we  stood  in  great  need  thereof,  and  ex- 
pended part  of  it  in  buying  hats,  shoes,  and  stockings 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  135 

for  those  who  wanted  them,  and  with  the  remainder 
bought  six  great  mule  loads  of  brandy,  for  our  winter's 
supply,  from  a  merchant  who  was  sending  it  to  be  sold 
at  Anduze  market/'  * 

On  the  Sunday  following,  Cavalier  held  an  assembly 
for  public  worship  near  Monteze  on  the  Gardon,  at 
which  about  five  hundred  persons  were  present.  The 
governor  of  Alais,  being  informed  of  the  meeting, 
resolved  to  put  it  down  with  a  strong  hand ;  and  he 
set  out  for  the  purpose  at  the  head  of  a  force  of  about 
six  hundred  horse  and  foot.  A  mule  accompanied  him, 
laden  with  ropes  with  which  to  bind  or  hang  the  rebels. 
Cavalier  had  timely  information,  from  scouts  posted  on 
the  adjoining  hills,  of  the  approach  of  the  governor's 
force,  and  though  the  number  of  fighting  men  in  the 
Camisard  assembly  was  comparatively  small,  they 
resolved  to  defend  themselves. 

Sending  away  the  women  and  others  not  bearing 
arms,  Cavalier  posted  his  little  band  behind  an  old  en- 
trenchment on  the  road  along  which  the  governor  was 
approaching,  and  awaited  his  attack.  The  horsemen 
came  on  at  the  charge  ;  but  the  Camisards,  firing  over 
the  top  of  the  entrenchment,  emptied  more  than  a  dozen 
saddles,  and  then  leaping  forward,  saluted  them  with  a 
general  discharge.  At  this,  the  horsemen  turned  and 
fled,  galloping  through  the  foot  coming  up  behind 
them,  and  throwing  them  into  complete  disorder.  The 
Camisards  pulled  ofi"  their  coats,  in  order  the  better 
to  pursue  the  fugitives. 

The  Royalists  were  in  full  flight,  when  they  were  met 
by  a  reinforcement  of  two  hundred  men  of  Marsilly's 
regiment  of  foot.  But  these,  too,  were  suddenly  seized 
by  the  panic,  and  turned  and  fled  with  the  rest,  the 

*  ''Memoirs  oftlie  "Wars  of  the  Cevennes,"  p.  74. 


1 3 6  THE  HUG UENOTS. 

Camisards  pursuing  tliem  for  nearly  an  hour,  in  the 
course  of  which  they  slew  more  than  a  hundred  of  the 
enemy.  Besides  the  soldiers'  clothes,  of  which  they 
stripped  the  dead,  the  Camisards  made  prize  of  two 
loads  of  ammunition  and  a  large  quantity  of  arms, 
which  the}"  were  very  much  in  need  of,  and  also  of  the 
ropes  with  which  the  governor  had  intended  to  hang 
them. 

Emholdened  by  these  successes,  Cavalier  determined 
on  making  an  attack  on  the  strong  castle  of  Servas, 
occupying  a  steep  height  on  the  east  of  the  forest  of 
Bouquet.  Cavalier  detested  the  governor  and  garrison 
of  this  place  because  they  too  closely  watched  his  move- 
ments, and  overlooked  his  head-quarters,  which  were  in 
the  adjoining  forest ;  and  they  had,  besides,  distinguished 
themselves  by  the  ferocity  with  which  they  attacked  and 
dispersed  recent  assemblies  in  the  Desert. 

Cavalier  was,  however,  without  the  means  of  directly 
assaulting  the  place,  and  he  waited  for  an  opportunity 
of  entering  it,  if  possible,  by  stratagem.  While  pass- 
ing along  the  road  between  Alais  and  Lussan  one  day, 
he  met  a  detachment  of  about  forty  men  of  the  royal 
army,  whom  he  at  once  attacked,  killing  a  number  of 
them,  and  putting  the  rest  to  flight.  Among  the  slain 
was  the  commanding  officer  of  the  party,  in  whose 
pockets  was  found  an  order  signed  by  Count  Broglie 
directing  all  town-majors  and  consuls  to  lodge  him  and 
his  men  along  their  line  of  march.  Cavalier  at  once 
determined  on  making  use  of  this  order  as  a  key  to 
open  the  gates  of  the  castle  of  Servas. 

He  had  twelve  of  his  men  dressed  up  in  the  clothes 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  fallen,  and  six  others  in  their 
ordinary  Camisard  dress  bound  with  ropes  as  prisoners 
of  war.      Cavalier  himself  donned  the  uniform  of  the 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER,  137 

fallen  officer  ;  and  tliiis  disguised  and  well  armed,  tlie 
party  moved  np  the  steep  ascent  to  the  castle.  On 
reaching  the  outer  gate  Cavalier  presented  the  order  of 
Coimt  Broglie,  and  requested  admittance  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  his  pretended.  Camisard  prisoners  in  safe 
custody  for  the  night.  He  was  at  once  admitted  with 
his  party.  The  governor  showed  him  round  the  ram- 
parts, pointing  out  the  strength  of  the  place,  and 
boasting  of  the  punishments  he  had  inflicted  on  the 
rebels. 

At  supper  Cavalier's  soldiers  took  care  to  drop  into 
the  room  one  by  one,  apparently  for  orders,  and 
suddenly,  on  a  signal  being  given,  the  governor  and 
his  attendants  were  seized  and  bound.  At  the  same 
time  the  guard  outside  was  attacked  and  overpowered. 
The  outer  gates  were  opened,  the  Camisards  rushed  in, 
the  castle  was  taken,  and  the  garrison  put  to  the 
sword. 

Cavalier  and  his  band  carried  ofi"  with  them  to  their 
magazine  at  Bouquet  all  the  arms,  ammunition,  and 
provisions  they  could  find,  and  before  leaving  they  set 
fire  to  the  castle.  There  must  have  been  a  large  store 
of  gunpowder  in  the  vaults  of  the  place  besides  what 
the  Camisards  carried  away,  for  they  had  scarcely  pro- 
ceeded a  mile  on  their  return  journey  when  a  tremendous 
explosion  took  place,  shaking  the  ground  like  an  earth- 
quake, and  turning  back,  they  saw  the  battlements  of 
the  detested  Chateau  Servas  hurled  into  the  air. 

Shortly  after,  Roland  repeated  at  Sauve,  a  little 
fortified  town  hung  along  the  side  of  a  rocky  hill  a 
few  miles  to  the  south  of  Anduze,  the  stratagem  which 
Cavalier  had  employed  at  Servas,  and  with  like  success. 
He  disarmed  the  inhabitants,  and  carried  off  the  arms 
and  provisions  in  the  place ;  and  though  he  released 


138  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

tlie  commandant  and  tlie  soldiers  wliom  lie  liad  taken 
prisoners,  lie  sliot  a  persecuting  priest  and  a  CapucliiD 
monk,  and  destroyed  all  tke  insignia  of  Popery  in 
Sauve. 

Tkese  terrible  measures  caused  a  new  stampede  of 
tke  clergy  all  over  tke  Cevennes.  The  nobles  and 
gentry  also  left  their  chateaux,  the  merchants  their 
shops  and  warehouses,  and  took  refuge  in  the  fortified 
towns.  Even  the  bishops  of  Monde,  Uzes,  and  Alais 
barricaded  and  fortified  their  ej^iscoj^al  palaces,  and 
organized  a  system  of  defence  as  if  the  hordes  of  Attila 
had  been  at  their  gates. 

With  each  fresh  success  the  Camisards  increased  in 
daring,  and  every  day  the  insurrection  became  more 
threatening  and  formidable.  It  already  embraced  the 
whole  mountain  district  of  the  Cevennes,  as  well  as  a 
considerable  extent  of  the  low  country  between  Nismes 
and  Montpellier.  The  Camisard  troops,  headed  by 
their  chiefs,  marched  through  the  villages  with  drums 
beating  in  open  day,  and  were  quartered  by  billet  on 
the  inhabitants  in  like  manner  as  the  royal  regiments. 
Roland  levied  imposts  and  even  tithes  throughout  his 
district,  and  compelled  the  farmers,  at  the  peril  of  their 
lives,  to  bring  their  stores  of  victual  to  the  '^  Camp  of 
the  Eternal."  In  the  midst  of  all,  they  held  their 
meetings  in  the  Desert,  at  which  the  chiefs  preached, 
baptized,  and  administered  the  sacrament  to  their  flocks. 

The  constituted  authorities  seemed  paralyzed  by  the 
extent  of  the  insurrection,  and  the  suddenness  with 
which  it  spread.  The  governor  of  the  province  had  so 
repeatedly  rejoorted  to  his  royal  master  the  pacification 
of  Languedoc,  that  when  this  last  and  worst  outbreak 
occurred  he  was  ashamed  to  announce  it.  The  peace  of 
Ryswick  had  set  at  liberty  a  large  force  of  soldiers,  who 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  139 

had  now  no  other  occupation  than  to  ''convert"  the 
Protestants  and  force  them  to  attend  Mass.  Ahout  five 
hundred  thousand  men  were  now  under  arms  for  this 
purpose — occupied  as  a  sort  of  police  force,  very  much 
to  their  own  degradation  as  soldiers. 

A  large  body  of  this  otherwise  unoccupied  army  had 
been  placed  under  the  direction  of  Baville  for  the  pur- 
pose of  suppressing  the  rebellion — an  army  of  veteran 
horse  and  foot,  whose  valour  had  been  tried  in  many 
hard-fought  battles.  Surely  it  was  not  to  be  said  that 
this  immense  force  could  be  baffled  and  defied  by  a  few 
thousand  peasants,  cowherds,  and  wool- carders,  fight- 
ing for  what  they  ridiculously  called  their  "rights 
of  conscience !  "  Baville  could  not  believe  it  ;  and 
he  accordingly  determined  again  to  apply  himself 
more  vigorously  than  ever  to  the  suppression  of  the 
insurrection,  by  means  of  the  ample  forces  placed  at 
his  disposal. 

Again  the  troops  were  launched  against  the  insur- 
gents, and  again  and  again  they  were  baffled  in  their 
attempts  to  overtake  and  crush  them.  The  soldiers 
became  worn  out  by  forced  marches,  in  running  from  one 
place  to  another  to  disperse  assemblies  in  the  Desert. 
They  were  distracted  by  the  number  of  places  in  which 
the  rebels  made  their  appearance.  Cavalier  ran  from 
town  to  town,  making  his  attacks  sometimes  late  at 
night,  sometimes  in  the  early  morning ;  but  before  the 
troops  could  come  up  he  had  done  all  the  mischief  he 
intended,  and  was  perhaps  fifty  miles  distant  on  another 
expedition.  If  the  Royalists  divided  themselves  into 
small  bodies,  they  were  in  danger  of  being  overpowered ; 
'and  if  they  kept  together  in  large  bodies,  they  moved 
about  with  difficulty,  and  could  not  overtake  the  in- 
surgents,  "  by  reason,"   said  Cavalier,  "  we  could  go 


140  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

further  in  three  hours  than  they  could  in  a  whole  day ; 
regular  troops  not  being  used  to  march  through  woods 
and  mountains  as  we  did." 

At  length  the  truth  could  not  be  concealed  any 
longer.  The  States  of  Languedoe  were  summoned  to 
meet  at  Montpellier,  and  ther3  the  desperate  state  of 
affairs  was  fully  revealed.  The  bishops  of  the  principal 
dioceses  could  with  difficulty  attend  the  meeting,  and 
were  only  enabled  to  do  so  by  the  assistance  of  strong 
detachments  of  soldiers — the  Camisards  being  masters  of 
the  principal  roads.  They  filled  the  assembly  with  their 
lamentations,  and  declared  that  they  had  been  be- 
trayed by  the  men  in  power.  At  their  urgent  solicita- 
tion, thirty-two  more  companies  of  Catholic  fusiliers 
and  another  regiment  of  dragoons  were  ordered  to  be 
immediately  embodied  in  the  district.  The  governor 
also  called  to  his  aid  an  additional  regiment  of  dragoons 
from  Rouergue  ;  a  battalion  of  marines  from  the  ships- 
of-war  lying  at  Marseilles  and  Toulon ;  a  body  of 
Misruelets  from  Roussillon,  accustomed  to  mountain 
warfare ;  together  with  a  large  body  of  Irish  officers 
and  soldiers,  part  of  the  Irish  Brigade. 

And  how  did  it  happen  that  the  self-exiled  Irish 
patriots  were  now  in  the  Cevennes,  helping  the  army  of 
Louis  XIY.  to  massacre  the  Camisards  by  way  of 
teaching  them  a  better  religion  ?  It  happened  thus  : 
The  banishment  of  the  Huguenots  from  France,  and 
their  appearance  under  William  III.  in  Ireland  to  fight 
at  the  Boyne  and  Augrhim,  contributed  to  send  the 
Irish  Brigade  over  to  France — though  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  Irish  Brigade  fought  much  better  for 
Louis  XIY.  than  they  had  ever  done  for  Ireland. 

After  the  surrender  of  Limerick  in  1691,  the  prin- 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  141 

cipal  number  of  tlie  Irish  followers  of  James  II.  de- 
clared their  intention  of  abandoning  Ireland  and 
serving  their  sovereign's  ally  the  King  of  France. 
The  Irish  historians  allege  that  the  number  of  the 
brigade  at  first  amounted  to  nearly  thirty  thousand 
men.*  Though  they  fought  bravely  for  France,  and 
conducted  themselves  valiantly  in  many  of  her  great 
battles,  they  were  unfortunately  put  forw^ard  to  do  a 
great  deal  of  dirty  work  for  Louis  XIY.  One  of  the 
first  campaigns  they  were  engaged  in  was  in  Savoy, 
under  Catinat,  in  repressing  the  Yaudois  or  Barbets. 

The  Yaudois  peasantry  were  for  the  most  part  un- 
armed, and  their  only  crime  was  their  religion.  The 
regiments  of  Yiscount  Clare  and  Yiscount  Dillon, 
principally  distinguished  themselves  against  the  Yau- 
dois. The  war  was  one  of  extermination,  in  which  many 
of  the  Barbets  were  killed.  Mr.  O'Connor  states  that  be- 
tween the  number  of  the  Alpine  mountaineers  cut  off, 
and  the  extent  of  devastation  and  pillage  committed 
amongst  them  by  the  Irish,  Catinat's  commission  was 
executed  with  terrible  fidelity ;  the-  memory  of  which 
"  has  rendered  their  name  and  nation  odious  to  the 
Yaudois.  Six  generations,"  he  remarks,  *'have  since 
passed  away,  but  neither  time  nor  subsequent  calami- 
ties have  obliterated  the  impression  made  by  the  waste 
and  desolation  of  this  military  incursion."!  Because 
of  the  outrages  and  destruction  committed  upon  the 
women  and  children  in  the  valleys  in  the  absence  of 
their  natural  defenders,  the  Yaudois  still  speak  of  the 
Irish  as  ''  the  foreign  assassins." 

The  Brio:ade  havino:  thus  faithfullv  served  Louis  XIY. 

*  O'Callaghan's   "History  of  the  Irish   Brigades  in   the  service 
of  France,"  p.  29. 
t  I')id.,  p.  180. 


142  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

ill  Piedmont,  were  now  occupied  in  the  same  work  in 
the  Cevennes.  The  historian  of  the  Brigade  does  not 
particularise  the  battles  in  which  they  were  engaged 
with  the  Camisards,  but  merely  announces  that  "  on 
several  occasions,  the  Irish  appear  to  have  distinguished 
themselves,  especially  their  officers." 

When  Cavalier  heard  of  the  vast  additional  forces 
about  to  be  thrown  into  the  Cevennes,  he  sought  to 
effect  a  diversion  by  shifting  the  theatre  of  war.  March- 
ing down  towards  the  low  country  with  about  two 
hundred  men,  he  went  from  village  to  village  in  the 
Yaunage,  holding  assemblies  of  the  people.  His  where- 
abouts soon  became  known  to  the  Royalists,  and  Captain 
Bonnafoux,  of  the  Calvisson  militia,  hearing  that 
Cavalier  was  preaching  one  day  at  the  village  of  St. 
Comes,  hastened  to  capture  him. 

Bonnafoux  had  already  distinguished  himself  in  the 
preceding  year,  by  sabring  two  assemblies  surprised  by 
him  at  Vauvert  and  Caudiac,  and  his  intention  now  was 
to  serve  Cavalier  and  his  followers  in  like  manner. 
Galloping  up  to  the  place  of  meeting,  the  Captain  was 
challenged  by  the  Camisard  sentinel ;  and  his  answer 
was  to  shoot  the  man  dead  with  his  pistol.  The  report 
alarmed  the  meeting,  then  occupied  in  prayer ;  but 
rising  from  their  knees,  they  at  once  formed  in  line 
and  advanced  to  meet  the  foe,  who  turned  and  fled  at 
their  first  discharge. 

Cavalier  next  went  southward  to  Caudiac,  where  he 
waited  for  an  opportunity  of  surprising  Aimargues,  and 
putting  to  the  sword  the  militia,  who  had  long  been 
the  scourge  of  the  Protestants  in  that  quarter.  He 
entered  the  latter  town  on  a  fair  day,  and  walked  about 
amongst  the  people  ;  but,  finding  that  his  intention  was 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  143 

known,  and  tliat  his  enterprise  was  not  likely  to  succeed, 
lie  turned  aside  and  resolved  upon  another  course. 
But  first  it  was  necessary  that  his  troops  should  be 
suj)plied  with  powder  and  ammunition,  of  which  they 
had  run  short.  So,  disguising  himself  as  a  merchant, 
and  mounted  on  a  horse  with  capacious  saddlebags,  he 
rode  off  to  Nismes,  close  at  hand,  to  buy  gunpowder. 
He  left  his  men  in  charge  of  his  two  lieutenants, 
Ravanel  and  Catinat,  who  prophesied  to  him  that 
during  his  absence  they  would  fight  a  battle  and 
win  a  victory. 

Count  Broglie  had  been  promptly  informed  by  the 
defeated  Captain  Bonnafoux  that  the  Camisards  were 
in  the  neighbourhood ;  and  he  set  out  in  pursuit 
of  them  with  a  strong  body  of  horse  and  foot.  After 
several  days'  search  amongst  the  vineyards  near  Nismes 
and  the  heathery  hills  about  Milhaud,  Broglie  learnt 
that  the  Camisards  were  to  be  found  at  Caudiac.  But 
when  he  reached  that  place  he  found  the  insurgents  had 
already  left,  and  taken  a  northerly  direction.  Broglie 
followed  their  track,  and  on  the  following  day  came  up 
with  them  at  a  place  called  Mas  de  Gaffarel,  in  the  Yal 
de  Bane,  about  three  miles  west  of  Nismes.  The 
Royalists  consisted  of  two  hundred  militia,  commanded 
by  the  Count  and  his  son,  and  two  troops  of  dragoons, 
under  Captain  la  Dourville  and  the  redoubtable  Captain 
Poul. 

The  Camisards  had  only  time  to  utter  a  short  prayer, 
and  to  rise  from  their  knees  and  advance  singing  their 
battle  psalm,  when  Poul  and  his  dragoons  were  upon 
them.  Their  charge  was  so  furious  that  Pavanel  and 
his  men  were  at  first  thrown  into  disorder ;  but 
rallying,  and  bravely  fighting,  they  held  their  ground. 
Captain  Poul  was  brought  to  the  ground  by  a  stone 


14+  THE  HUGUENOTS.  . 

hurled  from  a  sling  by  a  young  Yauvert  miller  named 
Samuelet ;  Count  Broglie  himself  was  wounded  by  a 
musket-ball,  and  many  of  his  dragoons  lay  stretched 
on  the  field.  Catinat  observing  the  fall  of  Poul,  rushed 
forward,  cut  off  his  head  with  a  sweep  of  his  sabre,  and 
mounting  Poul's  horse,  almost  alone  chased  the  Royalists, 
now  flying  in  all  directions.  Broglie  did  not  draw 
breath  until  he  had  reached  the  secure  shelter  of  the 
castle  of  Bernis. 

While  these  events  were  in  progress,  Cavalier  was 
occupied  on  his  mission  of  buying  gunpowder  in 
Nismes.  He  v/as  passing  along  the  Esplanade — then, 
as  now,  a  beautiful  promenade — when  he  observed  from 
the  excitement  of  the  people,  running  about  hither  and 
thither,  that  something  alarming  had  occurred.  On 
making  inquiry  he  was  told  that  "  the  Barbets  "  were 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  it  was  even 
feared  they  would  enter  and  sack  the  city.  Shortly 
after,  a  trooper  was  observed  galloping  towards  them 
at  full  speed  along  the  Montpellier  Boad,  without  arms 
or  helmet.  He  was  almost  out  of  breath  when  he  came 
up,  and  could  only  exclaim  that  "All  is  lost !  Count 
Broglie  and  Captain  Poul  are  killed,  and  the  Barbets 
are  pursuing  the  remainder  of  the  royal  troops  into 
the  city  ! " 

The  gates  were  at  once  ordered  to  be  shut  and  barri- 
caded ;  the  generate  was  beaten  ;  the  troops  and  militia 
were  mustered ;  the  j)riests  ran  about  in  the  streets 
crying,  "We  are  undone!"  Some  of  the  Boman 
Catholics  even  took  shelter  in  the  houses  of  the  Protest- 
ants, calling  upon  them  to  save  their  lives.  But  the 
night  passed,  and  with  it  their  alarm,  for  the  Cami- 
sards  did  not  make  their  appearance.  ISText  morning 
a   message   arrived    from    Count  Broglie,   shut  up  in 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  145 

the  castle  of  Bernis,  ordering  tlie  garrison  to  come  to 
his  relief. 

In  the  meantime,  Cavalier,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
friends  in  Nismes,  had  obtained  the  articles  of  which  he 
was  in  need,  and  prepared  to  set  out  on  his  return 
journey.  The  governor  and  his  detachment  were 
issuing  from  the  western  gate  as  he  left,  and  he 
accompanied  them  part  of  the  way,  still  disguised  as  a 
merchant,  and  mounted  on  his  horse,  with  a  large 
portmanteau  behind  him,  and  saddle-bags  on  either  side 
full  of  gunpowder  and  ammunition.  The  Camisard 
chief  mixed  with  the  men,  talking  with  them  freely 
about  the  Barbets  and  their  doings.  When  he  came  to 
the  St.  Hypolite  road  he  turned  aside ;  but  they 
warned  him  that  if  he  went  that  way  he  would 
certainly  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Barbets,  and  lose 
not  only  his  horse  and  his  merchandise,  but  his  life. 
Cavalier  thanked  them  for  their  advice,  but  said  he  was 
not  afraid  of  the  Barbets,  and  proceeded  on  his  wa}^, 
shortly  rejoining  his  troop  at  the  appointed  rendezvous. 

The  Camisards  crossed  the  Garden  by  the  bridge  of 
St.  JSTicholas,  and  were  proceeding  towards  their  head- 
quarters at  Bouquet,  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  when 
an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Chevalier  de  St.  Chaj^tes, 
at  the  head  of  the  militia  of  the  district,  to  cut  off  their 
retreat.  But  Ravanel  charged  them  with  such  fury  as 
to  drive  the  greater  part  into  the  Garden,  then  swollen 
by  a  flood,  and  those  who  did  not  escape  by  swimming 
were  either  killed  or  drowned. 

Thus  the  insurrection  seemed  to  grow,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  measures  taken  to  repress  it.  The  number 
of  soldiers  stationed  in  the  province  was  from  time  to 
time  increased ;  they  were  scattered  in  detachments 
all  over  the  country,  and  the  Camisards  took  care  to 


146  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

give  theni  but  few  opportunities  of  exhibiting  tbeir 
force,  and  then  only  when  at  a  comparative  disad- 
vantage. The  Royalists,  at  tbeir  wits'  end,  considered 
wbat  was  next  to  be  done  in  order  to  tbe  pacification 
of  tbe  country.  Tbe  simj)le  remedy,  tbey  knew,  was 
to  allow  tbese  poor  simple  people  to  worship  in  tbeir 
own  way  without  molestation.  Grant  them  this  pri- 
vilege, and  they  were  at  any  moment  ready  to  lay  down 
their  arms,  and  resume  their  ordinary  peaceful  pursuits. 

But  this  was  precisely  what  tbe  King  would  not 
allow.  To  do  so  would  be  an  admission  of  royal  falli- 
bility which  neither  he  nor  his  advisers  were  prepared 
to  make.  To  enforce  conformity  on  his  subjects,  Louis 
XIY.  had  already  driven  some  half- a -million  of  the  best 
of  them  into  exile,  besides  the  thousands  who  had 
perished  on  gibbets,  in  dungeons,  or  at  the  galleys. 
And  was  he  now  to  confess,  by  granting  liberty  of 
worship  to  these  neatherds,  carders,  and  peasants,  tbat 
the  vigorous  policy  of  "the  Most  Christian  King"  had 
been  an  entire  mistake  ? 

It  was  resolved,  therefore,  that  no  such  liberty  should 
be  granted,  and  that  these  peasants,  like  the  rest  of  the 
King's  subjects,  were  to  be  forced,  at  the  sword's  point 
if  necessary,  to  worship  God  in  Im  way,  and  not  in 
theirs.  Yiewed  in  this  light,  the  whole  proceeding 
would  appear  to  be  a  ludicrous  absurdity,  but  for  its 
revolting  impiety  and  the  abominable  cruelties  with 
which  it  was  accompanied.  Yet  the  Boyalists  even 
blamed  themselves  for  the  mercy  which  they  had 
hitherto  showTL  to  the  Protestant  peasantry  ;  and  the 
more  virulent  amongst  them  urged  that  the  whole  of 
the  remaining  population  that  would  not  at  once  con- 
form to  the  Church  of  Eome,  should  forthwith  be  put 
to  the  sword ! 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  147 

Brigadier  Julien,  an  apostate  Protestant,  wlio  had 
served  under  William  of  Orange  in  Ireland,  and  after- 
wards under  tlie  Duke  of  Savoy  vsx  Piedmont,  disap- 
pointed witli  the  slowness  of  his  promotion,  had  taken 
service  under  Louis  XIY.,  and  was  now  employed  as  a 
partizan  chief  in  the  suppression  of  his  former  co- 
religionists in  Languedoc.  Like  all  renegades,  he  was 
a  bitter  and  furious  persecutor  ;  and  in  the  councils  of 
Baville  his  voice  was  always  raised  for  the  extremest 
measures.  He  would  utterly  exterminate  the  insur- 
gents, and,  if  necessarj",  reduce  the  country  to  a  desert. 
"  It  is  not  enough,"  said  he,  *^  merely  to  kill  those  bear- 
ing arms ;  the  villages  which  supply  the  combatants, 
and  which  give  them  shelter  and  sustenance,  ought  to 
be  burnt  down :  thus  only  can  the  insurrection  be 
suppressed." 

In  a  military  point  of  view  Julien  was  probably 
right ;  but  the  savage  advice  startled  even  Baville. 
"  Nothing  can  be  easier,"  said  he,  "  than  to  destroy  the 
towns  and  villages  ;  but  this  would  be  to  make  a  desert 
of  one  of  the  finest  and  most  productive  districts  of 
Languedoc."  Yet  Baville  himself  eventually  adoj)ted 
the  very  policy  which  he  now  condemned. 

In  the  first  place,  however,  it  was  determined  to 
pursue  and  destroy  Cavalier  and  his  band.  Eight 
hundred  men,  under  the  Count  de  Touman,  were  posted 
at  Uzes ;  two  battalions  of  the  regiment  of  Hainault, 
under  Julien,  at  Anduze ;  while  Broglie,  with  a  strong 
body  of  dragoons  and  militia,  commanded  the  passes  at 
St.  Ambrose.  These  troops  occupied,  as  it  were,  the 
three  sides  of  a  triangle,  in  the  centre  of  which  Cavalier 
was  known  to  be  in  hiding  in  the  woods  of  Bouquet. 
Converging  upon  him  simultaneously,  they  hoped  to 
surround  and  destroy  him. 

11 


148  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

But  tlie  Camisard  chief  was  well  advised  of  their 
movements.  To  draw  them  away  from  his  magazines, 
Cavalier  marched  boldly  to  the  north,  and  slipping 
through  between  the  advancing  forces,  he  got  into 
Broglie's  rear,  and  set  fire  to  two  villages  inhabited  by 
Catholics.  The  three  bodies  at  once  directed  them- 
selves upon  the  burning  villages ;  but  when  they  reached 
them  Cavalier  had  made  his  escape,  and  was  nowhere 
to  be  heard  of.  For  four  days  they  hunted  the  country 
between  the  Gardon  and  the  Ceze,  beating  the  woods 
and  exploring  the  caves ;  and  then  they  returned, 
harassed  and  A'excd,  to  their  respective  quarters. 

While  the  Royalists  were  thus  occujned,  Cavalier  fell 
upon  a  convoy  of  provisions  which  Colonel  Marsilly 
was  leading  to  the  castle  of  Mendajols,  scattered  and 
killed  the  escort,  and  carried  off  the  mules  and  their 
loads  to  the  magazines  at  Bouquet.  During  the  whole 
of  the  month  of  January,  the  Camisards,  notwithstanding 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  were  constantly  on  the 
move,  making  their  appearance  in  the  most  unexpected 
quarters ;  Roland  descending  from  Mialet  on  Anduze, 
and  rousing  Broglie  from  his  slumbers  by  a  midnight 
fusillade  ;  Castanet  attacking  St.  Andre,  and  making  a 
bonfire  of  the  contents  of  the  church  ;  Joany  disarming 
Genouillac ;  and  Lafleur  terrifying  the  villages  of  the 
Lozere  almost  to  the  gates  of  Mende. 

Although  the  winters  in  the  South  of  France,  along 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  are  comparatively 
mild  and  genial,  it  is  very  different  in  the  mountain 
districts  of  the  interior,  where  the  snow  lies  thick  upon 
the  ground,  and  the  rivers  are  bound  up  by  frost. 
Cavalier,  in  his  Memoirs,  describes  the  straits  to  which 
his  followers  were  reduced  in  that  inclement  season, 
being  ''  destitute  of  houses  or  beds,  victuals,  bread,  or 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  149 

money,  and  left  to  struggle  with  hunger,  cold,  snow, 
misery,  and  poverty." 

"  General  Broglie,"  he  continues,  "  believed  and  hoped  that 
though  he  had  not  been  able  to  destroy  us  with  the  sword,  yet  the 
insufferable  miseries  of  the  winter  would  do  him  that  good  office.  Yet 
God  Almighty  prevented  it  through  his  power,  and  by  unexpeeted 
means  his  Proridence  ordered  the  thing  so  well  that  at  the  end  of  the 
winter  we  found  ourselves  in  being,  and  in  a  better  condition  than  we 

expected As  for  our  retiring  places,  we  were  used  in  the 

night-time  to  go  into  hamlets  or  sheepfolds  built  in  or  near  the  woods, 
and  thought  ourselves  happy  when  we  lighted  upon  a  stone  or  piece 
of  timber  to  make  our  pillows  withal,  and  a  little  straw  or  dry  leaves 
to  lie  upon  in  our  clothes.  We  did  in  this  condition  sleep  as  gently 
and  soundly  as  if  we  had  lain  upon  a  down  bed.  The  weather  being 
extremely  cold,  we  had  a  great  occasion  for  fire  ;  but  residing  mostly 
in  woods,  we  used  to  get  great  quantity  of  faggots  and  kindle  them, 
and  so  sit  round  about  them  and  warm  ourselves.  In  this  manner  we 
spent  a  quarter  of  a  year,  running  up  and  down,  sometimes  one  way 
and  sometimes  another,  through  great  forests  and  upon  high  moun- 
tains, in  deep  snow  and  upon  ice.  And  notwithstanding  the  sharpness 
of  the  weather,  the  small  stock  of  our  provisions,  and  the  marches  and 
counter-marches  we  were  continually  .obliged  to  make,  and  which 
gave  us  but  seldom  the  opportunity  of  washing  the  only  shirt  we 
had  upon  our  back,  not  one  amongst  us  fell  sick.  One  might  have 
perceived  in  our  visage  a  complexion  as  fresh  as  if  we  had  fed 
upon  the  most  delicious  meats,  and  at  the  end  of  the  season  we 
found  ourselves  in  a  good  disposition  heartily  to  commence  the 
following  campaign."* 

The  campaign  of  1703,  the  third  year  of  the  insur- 
rection, began  unfavourably  for  the  Camisards.  The 
ill-success  of  Count  Broglie  as  commander  of  the  royal 
forces  in  the  Cevennes,  determined  Louis  XIY. — from 
whom  the  true  state  of  affairs  could  no  longer  be  con- 
cealed— to  supersede  him  by  Marshal  Montrevel,  one  of 
the  ablest  of  his  generals.  The  army  of  Languedoc 
was  again  reinforced  by  ten  thousand  of  the  best  soldiers 
of  France,  drawn  from  the  armies  of  Germany  and  Italy. 
It  now  consisted  of  three  regiments  of  dragoons  and 
twenty-four  battalions  of  foot — of  the  Irish  Brigade,  the 
Miguelets,  and  the  Languedoc  fusiliers — which,  ^yith 

*  Cavalier's  "  Memoirs  of  the  Wars  of  the  Cevennes,"  pp. 
111—114. 


150  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

the  local  militia,  constituted  an  effective  force  of  not 
less  than  sixty  thousand  men  ! 

Such  was  the  irresistible  armj^,  commanded  by  a 
marshal  of  France,  three  lieutenant-generals,  three 
major-generals,  and  three  brigadier-generals,  now 
stationed  in  Languedoc,  to  crush  the  peasant  insur- 
rection. jSTo  wonder  that  the  Camisard  chiefs  were 
alarmed  when  the  intelligence  reached  them  of  this 
formidable  force  having  been  set  in  motion  for  their 
destruction. 

The  first  thing  they  determined  upon  was  to  effect  a 
powerful  diverson,  and  to  extend,  if  jDossible,  the  area 
of  the  insurrection.  For  this  purpose,  Cavalier,  at  the 
head  of  eight  hundred  men,  accomj^anied  by  thirty 
baggage  mules,  set  out  in  the  beginning  of  February, 
with  the  object  of  raising  the  Yiverais,  the  north-eastern 
quarter  of  Languedoc,where  the  Camisards  had  nume- 
rous partizans.  The  snow  was  lying  thick  upon  the 
ground  when  they  set  out ;  but  the  little  army  pushed 
northward,  through  Hochegude  and  Barjac.  At  the 
town  of  Yagnas  they  found  their  way  barred  by  a  body 
of  six  hundred  militia,  under  the  Count  de  Roure. 
These  they  attacked  with  great  fury  and  speedily  put 
to  flight. 

But  behind  the  Camisards  was  a  second  and  much 
stronger  ro3^alist  force,  eighteen  hundred  men,  under 
Brigadier  Julien,  Vvho  had  hastened  up  from  Lussan 
upon  Cavalier's  track,  and  now  hung  upon  his  rear  in 
the  forest  of  Yagnas.  Next  morning  the  Camisards 
accepted  battle,  fought  with  their  iisual  bravery,  but 
having  been  trapped  into  an  ambuscade,  they  were 
overpowered  by  numbers,  and  at  length  broke  and  fled 
in  disorder,  leaving  behind  them  their  mules,  baggage, 
seven  drums,  and  a  quantity  of  arms,  with  some  two 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER,  151 

liimdrecl  dead  and  wounded.  Cavalier  himself  escaped 
witli  difficultj^,  and,  after  having  been  given  up  for  lost, 
reached  the  rendezvous  at  Bouquet  in  a  state  of  com- 
plete exhaustion,  Ravanel  and  Catinat  having  preceded 
him  thither  with  the  remains  of  his  broken  army. 

Roland  and  Cavalier  now  altered  their  tactics.  They 
resolved  to  avoid  pitched  battles  such  as  that  at  Yagnas, 
where  they  were  liable  to  be  crushed  at  a  blow,  and  to 
divide  their  forces  into  small  detachments  constantly 
on  the  move,  harassing  the  enemy,  interrupting  their 
communications,  and  falling  upon  detached  bodies 
whenever  an  opportunity  for  an  attack  presented 
itself. 

To  the  surprise  of  Montrevel,  who  supposed  the 
Camisards  finally  crushed  at  Yagnas,  the  intelligence 
suddenly  reached  him  of  a  multitude  of  attacks  on 
fortified  posts,  burning  of  chateaux  and  churches,  cap- 
tures of  convoys,  and  defeats  of  detached  bodies  of 
E-oyalists. 

Joany  attacked  Genouillac,  cut  to  pieces  the  militia 
who  defended  it,  and  carried  ofi"  their  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, with  other  spoils,  to  the  camp  at  Faux-des-Armes, 
Shortly  after,  in  one  of  his  incursions,  he  captured  a 
convoy  of  forty  mules  laden  with  cloth,  wine,  and  pro- 
visions for  Lent ;  and,  though  hotly  pursued  by  a  much 
superior  force,  he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  into 
the  mountains. 

Castanet  was  not  less  active  in  the  west — sacking 
and  burning  Catholic  villages,  and  putting  their  in- 
habitants to  the  sword  by  way  of  reprisal  for  similar 
atrocities  committed  by  the  Royalists.  At  the  same 
time,  Montrevel  pillaged  and  burned  Euzet  and  St.  Jean 
de  Ceirarges,  villages  inhabited  by  Protestants  ;  and 
there  was  not  a  hamlet  but  was  liable  at  any  moment 


152  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

to  be  sacked  and  destroyed  by  one  or  otber  of  tbe  con- 
tending parties. 

I^or  was  Koland  idle.  Being  greatly  in  want  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  as  well  as  of  shoes  and  clotbes 
for  bis  men,  be  collected  a  considerable  force,  and  made 
a  descent,  for  tbe  purpose  of  obtaining  tbem,  on  the 
rich  and  populous  towns  of  tbe  soutb  ;  more  particularly 
on  tbe  manufacturing  town  of  Ganges,  wbere  tbe  Cami- 
sards  bad  many  friends.  Altbougb  Boland,  to  divert 
tbe  attention  of  Montrevel  from  Ganges,  sent  a  detacb- 
ment  of  bis  men  into  tbe  neigbbourbood  of  IN^ismes  to 
raise  tbe  alarm  tbere,  it  was  not  long  before  a  large 
royalist  force  was  directed  against  bim. 

Hearing  tbat  Montrevel  was  marcbing  upon  Ganges, 
Koland  bastily  left  for  tbe  nortb,  but  was  overtaken 
near  Pompignan  by  tbe  marsbal  at  tbe  bead  of  an  army 
of  regular  borse  and  foot,  including  several  regiments 
of  local  militia,  Miguelets,  marines,  and  Irisb.  Tbe 
Royalists  were  posted  in  sucb  a  manner  as  to  surround 
tbe  Camisards,  wbo,  tbougb  tbey  fouglit  witb  tbeir 
usual  impetuosity,  and  succeeded  in  breaking  tbrougb 
tbe  ranks  of  tbeir  enemies,  suffered  a  beavy  loss  in 
dead  and  wounded.  Roland  bimself  escaped  witb  diffi- 
culty,  and  witb  bis  broken  forces  fled  tbrougb  Durfort 
to  bis  strongbold  at  Mialet. 

After  tbe  battle,  Marsbal  Montrevel  returned  to 
Ganges,  wbere  be  levied  a  fine  of  ten  tbousand  livres 
on  tbe  Protestant  population,  giving  up  tbeir  bouses  to 
pillage,  and  banging  a  dozen  of  tbose  wbo  bad  been  tbe 
most  prominent  in  abetting  tbe  Camisards  during  tbeir 
recent  visit.  At  tbe  same  time,  be  reported  to  bead- 
quarters  at  Paris  tbat  be  bad  entirely  destroyed  tbe 
rebels,  and  tbat  Languedoc  was  now  "  pacified.'' 

Mucb   to   bis   surprise,   bowever,   not  many    weeks 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  153 

elapsed  before  Cavalier,  who  liad  been  laid  up  by  tlie 
small-pox  during  Roland's  expedition  to  Ganges,  again 
appeared  in  tbe  field,  attacking  convoys,  entering  the 
villages  and  carrying  off  arms,  and  spreading  terror 
anew  to  tbe  very  gates  of  Nismes.  He  returned  north- 
wards by  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  driving  before  him 
flocks  and  herds  for  the  provisioning  of  his  men,  and 
reached  his  retreat  at  Bouquet  in  safety.  Shortly 
after,  he  issued  from  it  again,  and  descended  upon  Ners, 
where  he  destroyed  a  detachment  of  troops  under 
Colonel  de  Jarnaud  ;  next  day  he  crossed  the  Gardon, 
and  cut  up  a  reinforcement  intended  for  the  garrison 
of  Sommieres ;  and  the  day  after  he  was  heard  of  in 
another  place,  attacking  a  convoy,  and  carrying  off 
arms,  ammunition,  and  provisions. 

Montrevel  was  profoundly  annoyed  at  the  failure  of 
his  efforts  thus  far  to  suppress  the  insurrection.  It 
even  seemed  to  increase  and  extend  with  every  new 
measure  taken  to  crush  it.  A  marshal  of  France,  at 
the  head  of  sixty  thousand  men,  he  feared  lest  he  should 
lose  credit  with  his  friends  at  court  unless  he  were  able 
at  once  to  root  out  these  miserable  cowherds  and  wool- 
carders  who  continued  to  bid  defiance  to  the  roj^al 
authority  which  he  represented  ;  and  he  determined  to 
exert  himself  with  renewed  vigour  to  exterminate  them 
root  and  branch. 

In  this  state  of  irritation  the  intelligence  was  one 
day  brought  to  the  marshal  while  sitting  over  his  wine 
after  dinner  at  Msmes,  that  an  assembly  of  Huguenots 
was  engaged  in  worship  in  a  mill  situated  on  the  canal 
outside  the  Port-des-Carmes.  He  at  once  ordered  out 
a  battalion  of  foot,  marched  on  the  mill,  and  surrounded 
it.  The  soldiers  burst  open  the  door,  and  found  from 
two  to  three  hundred  women,  children,  and  old  men 


154  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

engaged  in  prayer ;  and  proceeded  to  put  tliem  to  tlie 
sword.  But  the  marshal,  impatient  at  the  slowness  of 
the  butchery,  ordered  the  men  to  desist  and  to  fire  the 
place.  This  order  was  obeyed,  and  the  building,  being 
for  the  most  part  of  wood,  was  soon  wrapped  in  flames, 
from  amidst  which  rose  the  screams  of  women  and 
children.  All  who  tried  to  escape  were  bayoneted,  or 
driven  back  into  the  burning  mill.  Every  soul  perished 
— all  excepting  a  girl,  who  was  rescued  by  one  of 
Montrevel's  servants.  But  the  pitiless  marshal  ordered 
both  the  girl  and  her  deliverer  to  be  put  to  death.  The 
former  was  hanged  forthwith,  but  the  lackey's  life 
was  spared  at  the  intercession  of  some  sisters  of  mercy 
accidentally  passing  the  place. 

In  the  same  savage  and  relentless  spirit,  Montrevel 
proceeded  to  extirpate  the  Huguenots  wherever  found. 
He  caused  all  suspected  persons  in  twenty-two  parishes 
in  the  diocese  of  Nismes  to  be  seized  and  carried  off. 
The  men  v/ere  transported  to  North  America,  and  the 
women  and  children  imj^risoned  in  the  fortresses  of 
Roussillon. 

But  the  most  ruthless  measures  were  those  which 
were  adopted  in  the  Upper  Cevennes :  there  nothing 
short  of  devastation  would  satisfy  the  marshal.  Thirty- 
two  parishes  were  completely  laid  waste ;  the  cattle, 
grain,  and  produce  which  they  contained  were  seized 
and  carried  into  the  towns  of  refuge  garrisoned  by  the 
Boyalists — Alais,  Anduze,  Florae,  St.  Hypolite,  and 
Nismes — so  that  nothing  should  be  left  calculated  to 
give  sustenance  to  the  rebels.  Four  hvmdred  and  sixty- 
six  villages  and  hamlets  were  reduced  to  mere  heaps  of 
ashes  and  blackened  ruins,  and  such  of  their  inhabitants 
as  were  not  slain  by  the  soldiery  fled  with  their  families 
into  the  wilderness. 


EXPL  OITS  OF  CA  VALTER.  1 5  5 

All  the  principal  villages  inhabited  by  tbe  Protestants 
were  thus  completely  destroyed,  together  with  their 
mills  and  barns,  and  every  building  likely  to  give  them 
shelter,  Mialet  was  sacked  and  burnt — Roland,  still 
suffering  from  his  wounds,  being  unable  to  strike  a 
blow  in  defence  of  his  stronghold.  St.  Julien  was  also 
plundered  and  levelled,  and  its  inhabitants  carried  cap- 
tive to  Montpellier,  where  the  women  and  children  were 
imprisoned,  and  the  men  sent  to  the  galleys. 

AYheu  Cavalier  heard  of  the  determination  of  Mont- 
revel  to  make  a  desert  of  the  country,  he  sent  word  to 
him  that  for  every  Huguenot  village  destroyed  he  would 
destroy  two  inhabited  by  the  Romanists.  Thus  the 
sacking  and  burning  on  the  one  side  was  immediately 
followed  by  increased  sacking  and  burning  on  the  other. 
The  war  became  one  of  mutual  destruction  and  exter- 
mination, and  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  on  both 
sides  were  delivered  over  to  all  the  horrors  of  civil 
war. 

So  far,  however,  from  the  Camisards  being  suppressed, 
the  destruction  of  the  dwellings  of  the  Huguenots  only 
served  to  swell  their  numbers,  and  they  descended  from 
their  mountains  upon  the  Catholics  of  the  plains  in  in- 
creasing force  and  redoubled  fury.  Montlezan  was 
utterly  destroyed  —  all  but  the  church,  which  was 
strongly  barricaded,  and  resisted  Cavalier's  attempts  to 
enter  it.  Aurillac,  also,  was  in  like  manner  sacked  and 
gutted,  and  the  destroying  torrent  swej^t  over  all  the 
towns  and  villages  of  the  Cevennes. 

Cavalier  was  so  ubiquitous,  so  daring,  and  often  so 
successful  in  his  attacks,  that  of  all  the  Camisard  leaders 
he  was  held  to  be  the  most  dangerous,  and  a  high  price 
was  accordingly  set  upon  his  head  by  the  governor. 
Hence  many  attempts  were  made  to  betray  him.     He 


156  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

was  haunted  by  spies,  some  of  wliom  even  succeeded 
in  obtaining  admission  to  bis  ranks.  More  than  once 
the  spies  were  detected — it  was  pretended  through  pro- 
phetic influence — and  immediately  shot.  But  on  one 
occasion  Cavalier  and  his  whole  force  narrowly 
escaped  destruction  through  the  betrayal  of  a  pre- 
tended follower. 

While  the  Royalists  were  carrying  destruction  through 
the  villages  of  the  Upper  Cevennes,  Cavalier,  Salomon, 
and  Abraham,  in  order  to  divert  them  from  their  pur- 
pose, resolved  upon  another  descent  into  the  low  country, 
now  comparatively  ungarrisoned.  "With  this  object 
they  gathered  together  some  fifteen  hundred  men,  and 
descended  from  the  mountains  by  Collet,  intending  to 
cross  the  Garden  at  Beaurivage.  On  Sunday,  the  29th 
of  April,  they  halted  in  the  wood  of  Malaboissiere,  a 
little  north  of  Mialet,  for  a  day's  preaching  and  wor- 
ship ;  and  after  holding  three  services,  which  were 
largely  attended,  they  directed  their  steps  to  the  Tower 
of  Belliot,  a  deserted  farmhouse  on  the  south  of  the 
present  high  road  between  Alais  and  Anduze. 

The  house  had  been  built  on  the  ruins  of  a  feudal 
castle,  and  took  its  name  from  one  of  the  old  towers 
still  standing.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  dry  stone  wall, 
forming  a  court,  the  entrance  to  which  was  closed  by 
hurdles.  On  their  arrival  at  this  place  late  at  night, 
the  Camisards  partook  of  the  supper  which  had  been 
prepared  for  them  bj^  their  purveyor  on  the  occasion 
— a  miller  of  the  neighbourhood,  named  Guignon — 
whose  fidelity  was  assured  not  only  by  his  apparent 
piety,  but  by  the  circumstance  that  two  of  his  sons 
belonged  to  Cavalier's  band. 

No  sooner,  however,  had  the  Camisards  lain  down  to 
sleep  than  the  miller,  possessed  by  the  demon  of  gold, 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  157 

set  out  directly  for  Alais,  about  three  miles  distant^,  and, 
reaching  the  quarters  of  Montrevel,  sold  the  secret  of 
Cavalier's  sleeping-place  to  the  marshal  for  fifty  pieces 
of  gold,  and  together  with  it  the  lives  of  his  own  sons 
and  their  fifteen  hundred  companions. 

The  marshal  forthwith  mustered  all  the  available 
troops  in  Alais,  consisting  of  eight  regiments  of  foot 
(of  which  one  was  Irish)  and  two  of  dragoons,  and  set 
out  at  once  for  the  Tower  of  Belliot,  taking  the  pre- 
caution to  set  a  strict  guard  upon  all  the  gates,  to  pre- 
vent the  possibility  of  any  messenger  leaving  the  place 
to  warn  Cavalier  of  his  approach.  The  loyalists  crept 
towards  the  tower  in  three  bodies,  so  as  to  cut  ofi"  their 
retreat  in  every  direction.  Meanwhile,  the  Camisards, 
unapprehensive  of  danger,  lay  wrapped  in  slumber, 
filling  the  tower,  the  barns,  the  stables,  and  out- 
houses. 

The  night  was  dark,  and  favoured  the  Eoyalists'  ap- 
proach. Suddenly,  one  of  their  divisions  came  upon 
the  advanced  Camisard  sentinels.  They  fired,  but  were 
at  once  cut  down.  Those  behind  fled  back  to  the 
sleeping  camp,  and  raised  the  cry  of  alarm.  Cavalier 
started  up,  calling  his  men  ''to  arms,"  and,  followed 
by  about  four  hundred,  he  precipitated  himself  on  the 
heads  of  the  advancing  columns.  Driven  back,  they 
rallied  again,  more  troops  coming  up  to  their  suj)port, 
and  again  they  advanced  to  the  attack. 

To  his  dismay,  Cavalier  found  the  enemy  in  over- 
whelming force,  enveloping  his  whole  position.  By 
great  efibrts  he  held  them  back  until  some  four  or  five 
hundred  more  of  his  men  had  joined  him,  and  then  he 
gave  way  and  retired  behind  a  ravine  or  hollow,  pro- 
bably forming  part  of  the  fosse  of  the  ancient  chateau. 
Having  there  rallied  his  followers,   he  recrossed   the 


I58  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

ravine  to  make  anotlier  desj^erate  effort  to  relieve  the 
remainder  of  his  troop  shut  up  in  tlie  tower. 

A  desperate  encounter  followed,  in  the  midst  of 
whicli  two  of  the  royalist  columns,  mistaking  each 
other  for  enemies  in  the  darkness,  fired  into  each  other 
and  increased  the  confusion  and  the  carnage.  The 
moon  rose  on  this  dreadful  scene,  and  revealed  to  the 
Royalists  the  smallness  of  the  force  opposed  to  them. 
The  struggle  was  renewed  again  and  again ;  Cavalier 
still  seeking  to  relieve  those  shut  up  in  the  tower, 
and  the  Royalists,  now  concentrated  and  in  force,  to 
surround  and  destroy  him. 

At  length,  after  the  struggle  had  lasted  for  about 
five  hours,  Cavalier,  in  order  to  save  the  rest  of  his 
men,  resolved  on  retiring  before  daybreak ;  and  he 
succeeded  in  effecting  his  retreat  without  being  pur- 
sued by  the  enemy. 

The  three  hundred  Camisards  who  continued  shut 
up  in  the  tower  refused  to  surrender.  They  trans- 
formed the  ruin  into  a  fortress,  barricading  every  en- 
trance, and  firing  from  every  loophole.  When"  their 
ammunition  was  exp3nded,  they  hurled  stones,  joists, 
and  tiles  down  upon  their  assailants  from  the  summit 
of  the  tower.  For  four  more  hours  they  continued  to 
hold  out.  Cannon  were  sent  for  from  Alais,  to  blow  in 
the  doors  ;  but  before  they  arrived  all  was  over.  The 
place  had  been  set  on  fire  by.  hand  grenades,  and  the 
imprisoned  Camisards,  singing  psalms  amidst  the  flames 
to  their  last  breath,  perished  to  a  man. 

This  victory  cost  Montrevel  dear.  He  lost  some 
twelve  hundred  dead  and  wounded  before  the  fatal 
Tower  of  Belliot ;  whilst  Cavalier's  loss  was  not  less 
than  four  hundred  dead,  of  whom  a  hundred  and 
eighteen  were  found  at  daybreak  along  the  brink  of  the 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  159 

ravine.  One  of  these  was  mistaken  for  tlie  body  ol 
Cavalier ;  on  vi^liicli  Montrevel,  with  characteristic 
barbarity,  ordered  the  head  to  be  cut  oif  and  sent  to 
Cavalier'' 8  mother  for  identification  ! 

From  the  slight  glimpses  we  obtain  of  the  man 
Montrevel  in  the  course  of  these  deplorable  transactions, 
there  seems  to  have  been  something  ineJffably  mean  and 
spiteful  in  his  nature.  Thus,  on  another  occasion,  in  a 
fit  of  rage  at  having  been  baffled  by  the  young  Camisard 
leader,  he  dispatched  a  squadron  of  dragoons  to  Eibaute 
for  the  express  purpose  of  j)idling  down  the  house  in 
which  Cavalier  had  been  born  ! 

A  befitting  sequel  to  this  sanguinary  struggle  at  the 
Tower  of  Belliot  was  the  fate  of  Guignon,  the  miller, 
who  had  betrayed  the  sleeping  Camisards  to  Montrevel. 
His  crime  was  discovered.  The  gold  was  found  upon 
him.  He  was  tried,  and  condemned  to  death.  The 
Camisards,  under  arms,  assembled  to  see  the  sentence 
carried  out.  They  knelt  round  the  doomed  man,  while 
the  prophets  by  turn  prayed  for  his  soul,  and  implored 
the  clemency  of  the  Sovereign  Judge.  Guignon  pro- 
fessed the  utmost  contrition,  besought  the  pardon  of 
his  brethren,  and  sought  leave  to  embrace  for  the  last 
time  his  two  sons — privates  in  the  Camisard  ranks.. 
The  two  young  men,  however,  refused  the  proffered 
embrace  with  a  gesture  of  apparent  disgust ;  and  they 
looked  on,  the  sad  and  stern  spectators  of  the  traitor's 
punishment. 

Again  Montrevel  thought  he  had  succeeded  in  crush- 
ing the  insurrection,  and  that  he  had  cut  off  its  head 
with  that  of  the  Camisard  chief.  But  his  supposed  dis- 
covery of  the  dead  body  proved  an  entire  mistake ; 
and  not  many  days  elapsed  before  Cavalier  made  his 
ajDpearance  before  the  gates  of  Alais,   and  sent  in  i-i 


i6o  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

challenge  to  the  governor  to  come  out  and  fight  him. 
And  it  is  to  he  observed  that  by  this  time  a  fiercely 
combative  spirit,  of  fighting  for  fighting's  sake,  began 
to  show  itself  among  the  Camisards.  Thus,  Castanet 
appeared  one  day  before  the  gates  of  Meyreuis,  where 
the  regiment  of  Cordes  was  stationed,  and  challenged 
the  colonel  to  come  out  and.  fight  him  in  the  open  ;  but 
the  challenge  was  declined.  On  another  occasion, 
Cavalier  in  like  manner  challenged  the  commander  of 
Yic  to  bring  out  thirty  of  his  soldiers  and  fight  thirty 
Camisards.  The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  the  battle 
took  place  ;  they  fought  until  ten  men  only  remained 
alive  on  either  side,  but  the  Camisards  were  masters 
of  the  field. 

Montrevel  only  redoubled  his  efibrts  to  exterminate 
the  Camisards.  He  had  no  other  policy.  In  the 
summer  of  1703  the  Pope  (Clement  XI.)  came  to  his 
assistance,  issuing  a-  bull  against  the  rebels  as  being  of 
*'  the  execrable  race  of  the  ancient  Albigenses,"  and 
promising  "  absolute  and  general  remission  of  sins  "  to 
all  such  as  should  join  the  holy  militia  of  Louis  XIY. 
in  "  exterminating  the  cursed  heretics  and  miscreants, 
enemies  alike  of  God  and  of  Caesar.^* 
.  A  special  force  was  embodied  with  this  object — the 
Florentines,  or  "  White  Camisards  " — distinguished  by 
the  white  cross  which  they  wore  in  front  of  their  hats. 
They  were  for  the  most  part  composed  of  desperadoes 
and  miscreants,  and  wen't  about  pillaging  and  burning, 
with  so  little  discrimination  between  friend  and  foe, 
that  the  Catholics  themselves  implored  the  marshal  to 
suppress  them.  These  Florentines  were  the  perpe- 
trators of  such  barbarities  that  Roland  determined  to 
raise  a  body  of  cavalry  to  hunt  them  down  ;  and  with 
that  object,  Catinat,  the  old  dragoon,  went  down  to  the 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  i6i 

Camargues — a  sort  of  island-prairies  lying  between  the 
moutlis  of  the  Rhone — where  the  Arabs  had  left  a 
hardy  breed  of  horses ;  and  there  he  purchased  some 
two  hundred  steeds  wherewith  to  mount  the  Camisard 
horse,  to  the  command  of  which  Catinat  was  himself 
appointed. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  particularise  the  variety  of  com- 
bats, of  marchings  and  countermarchings,  which 
occurred  during  the  progress  of  the  insurrection. 
Between  the  contending  parties^  the  country  was 
reduced  to  a  desert.  Tillage  ceased,  for  there  was  no 
certainty  of  the  cultivator  reaping  the  crop  ;  more 
likely  it  would  be  carried  off  or  burnt  by  the  conflict- 
ing armies.  Beggars  and  vagabonds  wandered  about 
robbing  and  plundering  without  regard  to  party 
or  religion ;  and  social  security  was  entirely  at  an 
end. 

Meanwhile,  Montrevel  still  called  for  more  troops. 
Of  the  twenty  battalions  already  entrusted  to  him,  more 
than  one-third  had  perished  ;  and  still  the  insurrection 
was  not  suppressed.  He  hoped,  however,  that  the  work 
was  now  accomplished  ;  and,  looking  to  the  wasted  con- 
dition of  the  country,  that  the  famine  and  cold  of  the 
winter  of  1703-4  would  complete  the  destruction  of 
such  of  the  rebels  as  still  survived. 

During  the  winter,  however,  the  Camisard  chiefs  had 
not  only  been  able  to  keep  their  forces  together,  but  to 
lay  up  a  considerable  store  of  provisions  and  ammuni- 
tion, principally  by  captures  from  the  enemy  ;  and  in 
the  following  spring  they  were  in  a  position  to  take  the 
field  in  even  greater  force  than  ever.  The}',  indeed, 
opened  the  campaign  by  gaining  two  important  victories 
over  the  Royalists  ;  but  though  they  were  their  greatest, 
they  were  also  nearly  their  last. 


1 62  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

Tiie  battle  of  IVIartinargues  was  tlie  Cannae  of  the 
Camisards.  It  was  fought  near  the  village  of  that 
name,  not  far  from  Ners,  early  in  the  spring  of  1704. 
The  campaign  had  been  opened  by  the  Florentines, 
who,  now  that  they  had  made  a  desert  of  the  Upper 
Cevennes,  were  burning  and  ravaging  the  Protestant 
Tillages  of  the  plain.  Cavalier  had  put  himself  on  their 
track,  and  pursued  and  punished  them  so  severely,  that 
in  their  distress  they  called  upon  Montrevel  to  help 
them,  informing  him  of  the  whereabouts  of  the 
Camisards. 

A  strong  roj^alist  force  of  horse  and  foot  was  imme- 
diately sent  in  pursuit,  under  the  command  of  Brigadier 
Lajonquiere.  He  first  marched  upon  the  Protestant 
village  of  Lascours,  where  Cavalier  had  passed  the 
previous  night.  The  brigadier  severely  punished  the 
inhabitants  for  sheltering  the  Camisards,  putting  to 
death  four  persons,  two  of  them  girls,  whom  he  suspected 
to  be  Cavalier's  j^rophetesses.  On  the  people  refusing 
to  indicate  the  direction  in  which  the  Camisards  had 
gone,  he  gave  the  village  up  to  plunder,  and  the 
soldiers  passed  several  hours  ransacking  the  place,  in 
the  course  of  which  they  broke  open  and  pillaged 
the  wine-cellars. 

Meanwhile,  Cavalier  and  his  men  had  proceeded  in  a 
northerly  direction,  along  the  right  bank  of  the  little 
river  Broude,  one  of  the  affluents  of  the  Gardon.  A 
messenger  from  Lascours  overtook  him,  telling  him  of 
the  outrages  committed  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  vil- 
lage ;  and  shortly  after,  the  inhabitants  of  Lascours 
themselves  came  up — men,  women,  and  children,  who 
had  been  driven  from  their  pillaged  homes  by  the 
royalist  soldiery.  Cavalier  was  enraged  at  the  recital 
of  their  woes  ;  and  though  his  force  was  not  one-sixth 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  163 

the  strengtli  of  tlie  enemy,  lie  determined  to  meet  their 
advance  and  give  them  battle. 

Placing  the  poor  people  of  Lascours  in  safety, 
the  Camisard  leader  took  np  his  position  on  a  rising 
ground  at  the  head  of  a  little  valley  close  to  the 
village  of  Martinargues.  Cavalier  himself  occupied 
the  centre,  his  front  being  covered  by  a  brook  running 
in  the  hollow  of  a  ravine.  Eavanel  and  Catinat, 
with  a  small  body  of  men,  were  posted  along  the 
two  sides  of  the  valley,  screened  by  brushwood. 
The  approaching  Royalists,  seeing  before  them  only 
the  feeble  force  of  Cavalier,  looked  upon  his  capture 
as  certain. 

"  See  ! "  cried  Lajonquiere,  "  at  last  we  have  hold  of 
the  Barbet^  we  have  been  so  long  looking  for  ! ''  With 
his  dragoons  in  the  centre,  flanked  by  the  grenadiers 
and  foot,  the  Royalists  advanced  with  confidence  to  the 
charge.  At  the  first  volley,  the  Camisards  prostrated 
themselves,  and  the  bullets  went  .over  their  heads. 
Thinking  they  had  fallen  before  his  fusillade,  the  com- 
mander ordered  his  men  to  cross  the  ravine  and  fall 
upon  the  remnant  with  the  bayonet.  Instantly,  how- 
ever, Cavalier's  men  started  to  their  feet,  and  smote 
the  assailants  with  a  deadly  volley,  bringing  down  men 
and  horses.  At  the  same  moment,  the  two  wings,  until 
then  concealed,  fired  down  upon  the  Royalists  and  com- 
pleted their  confusion.  The  Camisards,  then  raising 
their  battle-psalm,  rushed  forward  and  charged  the 
enemy.  The  grenadiers  resisted  stoutly,  but  after  a 
few  minutes  the  entire  body — dragoons,  grenadiers, 
marines,  and  Irish — fled  down  the  valley  towards  the 
Gardon,  and  the  greater  number  of  those  who  were  not 
killed  were  drowned,  Lajonquiere  himself  escaping  with 
difficulty. 

12 


164  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

In  this  battle  penslied  a  colonel,  a  major,  thirty- 
three  captains  and  lieutenants,  and  four  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  while  Cavalier's  loss  was  only  about  twenty 
killed  and  wounded.  A  great  booty  was  picked  up  on 
the  field,  of  gold,  silver,  jewels,  ornamented  swords, 
magnificent  uniforms,  scarfs,  and  clothing,  besides 
horses,  as  well  as  the  plunder  brought  from  Lascours. 

The  opening  of  the  Lascours  wine-cellars  proved 
the  ruin  of  the  Eoj^^lists,  for  many  of  the  men 
were  so  drunk  that  they  were  unable  either  to 
fight  or  flj".  After  returning  thanks  to  God  on 
the  battle-field,  Cavalier  conducted  the  rejoicing 
people  of  Lascours  back  to  their  village,  and  j)ro- 
ceeded  to  his  head-quarters  at  Bouquet  with  his 
booty  and  his  trophies. 

Another  encounter  shortly  followed  at  the  Bridge 
of  Salindres,  about  midway  between  Auduze  and 
St.  Jean  du  Gard,  in  which  Boland  inflicted  an 
equally  decisive  defeat  on  a  force  commanded  b}" 
Brigadier  Lalande.  Informed  of  the  approach  of 
the  Ptoyalists,  Eoland  posted  his  little  army  in  the 
narrow,  precipitous,  and  rocky  valley,  along  the 
bottom  of  which  runs  the  river  Garden.  Dividing 
his  men  into  three  bodies,  he  posted  one  on  the 
bridge,  another  in  ambuscade  at  the  entrance  to  the 
defile,  and  a  third  on  the  summit  of  the  precij)ice 
overhanging  the  road. 

The  Eoyalists  had  scarcely  advanced  to  the  attack  of 
the  bridge,  when  the  concealed  Camisards  rushed  out 
and  assailed  their  rear,  while  those  stationed  above 
hurled  down  rocks  and  stones,  which  threw  them  into 
complete  disorder.  They  at  once  broke  and  fled,  rush- 
ing down  to  the  river,  into  which  they  threw  them- 
selves ;  and  but  for  Roland's  neglect  in  guarding  the 


EXPLOITS  OF  CAVALIER.  165 

steep  footpath  leading  to  tlie  ford  at  the  mill,  the  whole 
body  would  have  been  destroyed.  As  it  was,  they 
suffered  heavy  loss,  the  general  himself  escaping  with 
difficulty,  leaving  his  white-plumed  hat  behind  him  in 
the  hands  of  the  Camisards. 


CHAPTER  YIIT. 

END    OF   THE    CAMISARD   INSURRECTION. 

rpHE  insurrection  in  tlie  Cevennes  had  continued  for 
•-■-  more  than  two  years,  when  at  length  it  began  to 
excite  serious  uneasiness  at  Versailles.  It  was  felt  to 
be  a  source  of  weakness  as  well  as  danger  to  France, 
then  at  war  with  Portugal,  England,  and  Savoy.  What 
increased  the  alarm  of  the  French  Government  was  the 
fact  that  the  insurgents  were  anxiously  looking  abroad 
for  help,  and  endeavouring  to  excite  the  Protestant 
governments  of  the  North  to  strike  a  blow  in  their 
behalf. 

England  and  Holland  had  been  especially  appealed 
to.  Large  numbers  of  Huguenot  soldiers  were  then 
serving  in  the  English  army ;  and  it  was  suggested 
that  if  they  could  effect  a  landing  on  the  coast  of 
Languedoc,  and  co-operate  with  the  Camisards,  it 
would  at  the  same  time  help  the  cause  of  religious 
liberty,  and  operate  as  a  powerful  diversion  in  favour 
of  the  confederate  armies,  then  engaged  with  the  armies 
of  France  in  the  Low  Countries  and  on  the  Rhine. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  feasibility  of  the  proposed 
landing,  and  the  condition  of  the  Camisard  insurgents, 
the  ministry  of  Queen  Anne  sent  the  Marquis  de  Mire- 
mont,  a  Huguenot  refugee  in  England,  on  a  mission  to 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.  167 

tlie  Cevennes  ;  and  lie  succeeded  in  reaching  tlie  insur- 
gent camp  at  St.  Felix,  wliere  lie  met  Roland  and  tlie 
other  leaders,  and  arranged  with,  them  for  the  descent 
of  a  body  of  Huguenot  soldiers  on  the  coast. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1703,  the  English  fleet 
was  descried  in  the  Gulf  of  Lyons,  off  Aiguesmortes, 
making  signals,  which,  however,  were  not  answered. 
Marshal  Montrevel  had  been  warned  of  the  intended 
invasion ;  and,  summoning  troops  from  all  quarters,  he 
so  effectually  guarded  the  coast,  that  a  landing  was 
found  impracticable.  Though  Cavalier  was  near  at 
hand,  he  was  unable  at  any  point  to  communicate  with 
the  English  ships  ;  and  after  hang  off  for  a  few  days, 
they  spread  their  sails,  and  the  disheartened  Camisards 
saw  their  intended  liberators  disappear  in  the  distance. 

The  ministers  of  Louis  XIY.  were  greatly  alarmed 
by  this  event.  The  invasion  had  been  frustrated  for 
the  time,  but  the  English  fleet  might  return,  and  even- 
tually succeed  in  effecting  a  landing.  The  danger, 
therefore,  had  to  be  provided  against,  and  at  once.  It 
became  clear,  even  to  Louis  XIY.  himself,  that  the 
system  of  terror  and  coercion  which  had  heretofore 
been  exclusively  employed  against  the  insurgents,  had 
proved  a  total  failure.  It  was  accordingly  determined 
to  employ  some  other  means,  if  possible,  of  bringing 
this  dangerous  insurrection  to  an  end.  In  pursuance 
of  this  object,  Montrevel,  to  his  intense  mortification, 
was  recalled,  and  the  celebrated  Marshal  Yillars,  the 
victor  of  Hochstadt  and  FriedKngen,  was  appointed  in 
his  stead,  with  full  powers  to  undertake  and  carry  out 
the  pacification  of  Languedoc. 

Yillars  reached  Nismes  towards  the  end  of  August, 
1704  ;  but  before  his  arrival,  Montrevel  at  last  suc- 
ceeded in  settling  accounts  with  Cavalier,  and  wiped 


1 68  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

out  many  old  scores  by  infiicting  upon  Hm  the  severest 
defeat  the  Camisard  arms  had  yet  received.  It  was  his 
first  victory  over  Cavalier,  and  his  last. 

Cavalier's  recent  successes  had  made  him  careless. 
Having  so  often  overcome  the  royal  troops  against 
great  odds,  he  began  to  think  himself  invincible,  and 
to  despise  his  enemy.  His  success  at  Martinargues  had 
the  efiect  of  greatly  increasing  his  troops ;  and  he 
made  a  descent  upon  the  low  country  in  the  spring  of 
1704,  at  the  head  of  about  a  thousand  foot  and  two 
himdred  horse. 

Appearing  before  Bouciran,  which  he  entered  without 
resistance,  he  demolished  the  fortifications,  and  pro- 
ceeded southwards  to  St.  Genies,  which  he  attacked 
and  took,  carrying  away  horses,  mules,  and  arms. 
Next  day  he  marched  still  southward  to  Caveirac,  only 
about  three  miles  east  of  Nismes. 

Montrevel  designedly  published  his  intention  of 
taking  leave  of  his  government  on  a  certain  daj^,  and 
proceeding  to  Montpellier  with  only  a  very  slender 
force — pretending  to  send  the  remainder  to  Beaucaire, 
in  the  opposite  direction,  for  the  purpose  of  escorting 
Yillars,  his  successor,  into  the  city.  His  object  in 
doing  this  was  to  deceive  the  Camisard  leader,  and  to 
draw  him  into  a  trap. 

The  intelligence  became  known  to  Cavalier,  who  now 
watched  the  Montpellier  road,  for  the  purpose  of  inflict- 
ing a  parting  blow  upon  his  often-bafiled  enemy.  In- 
stead, however,  of  Montrevel  setting  out  for  Monpellier 
with  a  small  force,  he  mustered  almost  the  entire  troops 
belonging  to  the  garrison  of  JSTismes — over  six  thousand 
horse  and  foot — and  determined  to  overwhelm  Cavalier, 
who  lay  in  his  way.  Montrevel  divided  his  force  into 
several  bodies,  and  so  disposed  them  as  completely  to 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.  169 

suiToimd  tlie  comparatively  small  Camisard  force,  near 
Lano-lade.  The  first  encounter  was  mth  tlie  royalist 
regiment  of  Firmarcon,  wliicli  Cavalier  completely 
routed;  but  while  pursuing  them  too  keenly,  the 
Camisards  were  assailed  in  flank  by  a  strong  body  of 
foot  posted  in  vineyards  along  the  road,  and  driven 
back  upon  the  main  body.  The  Camisards  now  dis- 
covered that  a  still  stronger  battalion  was  stationed  in 
their  rear  ;  and,  indeed,  wherever  they  turned,  they  saw 
the  Royalists  posted  in  force.  There  was  no  alternative 
but  cutting  their  way  through  the  enemy ;  and  Cava- 
lier, putting  himself  at  the  head  of  his  men,  led  the 
way,  sword  in  hand. 

A  terrible  struggle  ensued,  and  the  Camisards  at  last 
reached  the  bridge  at  Rosni ;  but  there,  too,  the 
Hoyalists  were  found  blocking  the  road,  and  crowding 
the  heights  on  either  side.  Cavalier,  to  avoid  recogni- 
tion, threw  off  his  uniform,  and  assumed  the  guise  of 
a  simple  Camisard.  Again  he  sought  to  force  his  way 
through  the  masses  of  the  enemy.  His  advance  was  a 
series  of  hand-to-hand  fights,  extending  over  some  six 
miles,  and  the  struggle  lasted  for  nearly  the  entire  day. 
More  than  a  thousand  dead  strewed  the  roads,  of  whom 
one  half  were  Camisards.  The  Eoyalists  took  five 
drums,  sixty-two  horses,  and  four  mules  laden  with 
provisions,  but  not  one  prisoner. 

When  Yillars  reached  Msmes  and  heard  of  this 
battle,  he  went  to  see  the  field,  and  expressed  his 
admiration  at  the  skill  and  valour  of  the  Camisard 
chief.  *'  Here  is  a  man,"  said  he,  "  of  no  education, 
without  any  experience  in  the  art  of  war,  who  has  con- 
ducted himself  under  the  most  difiicult  and  delicate 
circumstances  as  if  he  had  been  a  great  general.  Truly, 
to  fight  such  a  battle  were  worthy  of  Caisar !  " 


1 70  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Indeed,  tlie  conduct  of  Cavalier  in  this  struggle  so 
impressed  Marshal  Villars,  tliat  lie  determined,  if  pos- 
sible, to  gain  liim  over,  together  with  his  brave  fol- 
lowers, to  the  ranks  of  the  royal  army.  Yillars  was 
no  bigot,  but  a  humane  and  honourable  man,  and  a 
thorough  soldier.  He  deplored  the  continuance  of  this 
atrocious  war,  and  proceeded  to  take  immediate  steps 
to  bring  it,  if  possible,  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  defeat  of  the  Cami- 
sards  had  been  followed  by  other  reverses.  During 
the  absence  of  Cavalier  in  the  South,  the  royalist 
general  Lalande,  at  the  head  of  five  thousand  troops, 
fell  upon  the  joint  forces  of  Holand  and  Joany  at 
Brenoux,  and  completely  defeated  them.  The  same- 
general  lay  in  wait  for  the  return  of  Cavalier  with  his 
broken  forces,  to  his  retreat  near  Euzet ;  and  on  his 
coming  up,  the  Royalists,  in  overpowering  numbers, 
fell  upon  the  dispirited  Camisards,  and  inflicted  upon 
them  another  heavy  loss. 

But  a  greater  calamity,  if  possible,  was  the  discovery 
and  capture  of  Cavalier's  magazines  in  the  caverns  near 
Euzet.  The  roj'alist  soldiers,  having  observed  an  old 
woman  frequently  leaving  the  village  for  the  adjoining 
wood  with  a  full  basket  and  returning  with  an  empty 
one,  suspected  her  of  succouring  the  rebels,'  arrested 
her,  and  took  her  before  the  general.  When  questioned 
at  first  she  would  confess  nothing  ;  on  which  she  was 
ordered  forthwith  to  be  hanged.  When  taken  to  the 
gibbet  in  the  market-place,  however,  the  old  woman's 
resolution  gave  way,  and  she  entreated  to  be  taken  back 
to  the  general,  when  she  would  confess  everything. 
She  then  acknowledged  that  she  had  the  care  of  an 
hospital  in  the  adjoining  wood,  and  that  her  daily 
errands  had  been  thither.     She  was  promised  pardon  if 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION,  iji 

slie  led  the  soldiers  at  once  to  tlie  place ;  and  slie  did 
so,  a  battalion  following  at  her  heels. 

Advancing  into  the  wood,  the  old  woman  led  the 
soldiers  to  the  mouth  of  a  cavern,  into  which  she 
pointed,  and  the  men  entered.  The  first  sight  that 
met  their  eyes  was  a  number  of  sick  and  wounded 
Camisards  lying  upon  couches  along  ledges  cut  in  the 
rock.  They  were  immediately  put  to  death.  Enterino- 
further  into  the  cavern,  the  soldiers  were  surprised  to  find 
in  an  inner  vault  an  immense  magazine  of  grain,  flour, 
chestnuts,  beans,  barrels  of  wine  and  brandy ;  farther 
in,  stores  of  drugs,  ointment,  dressings,  and  hospital 
furnishings  ;  and  finally,  an  arsenal  containing  a  large 
store  of  sabres,  muskets,  pistols,  and  gunpowder,  together 
with  the  materials  for  making  it ;  all  of  which  the 
Royalists  seized  and  carried  ofi". 

Lalande,  before  leaving  Euzet,  inflicted  upon  it  a 
terrible  punishment.  He  gave  it  up  to  pillage,  then 
burnt  it  to  the  ground,  and  put  the  inhabitants  to  the 
sword — all  but  the  old  woman,  who  was  left  alone 
amidst  the  corpses  and  ashes  of  the  ruined  village. 
Lalande  returned  in  triumj^h  to  Alais,  some  of  his 
soldiers  displaying  on  the  points  of  their  bayonets  the 
ears  of  the  slain  Camisards. 

Other  reverses  followed  in  quick  succession.  Salomon 
was  attacked  near  Pont-de-Montvert,  the  birthplace  of 
the  insurrection,  and  lost  some  eight  hundred  of  his 
men.  His  magazines  at  Magistavols  were  also  dis- 
covered and  ransacked,  containing,  amongst  other 
stores,  twenty  oxen  and  a  hundred  sheep. 

Thus,  in  four  combats,  the  Camisards  lost  nearly  half 
their  forces,  together  with  a  large  part  of  their  arms, 
ammunition,  and  provisions.  The  country  occupied  by 
them  had  been  ravaged  and  reduced  to  a  state  of  desert, 


172  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

and  tliere  seemed  but  little  prospect  of  their  again  being 
able  to  make  bead  against  tbeir  enemies. 

The  loss  of  life  during  tbe  last  year  of  tbe  insurrec- 
tion bad  been  frigbful.  Some  twenty  thousand  men 
bad  perished — eight  thousand  soldiers,  four  thousand 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  population,  and  from  seven  to 
eight  thousand  Protestants. 

Yillars  bad  no  sooner  entered  upon  the  functions  of 
his  office  than  be  set  himself  to  remedy  this  dreadful 
state  of  things.  He  was  encouraged  in  his  wise  inten- 
tions by  the  Baron  d*Aigalliers,  a  Protestant  nobleman 
of  high  standing  and  great  influence,  who  bad  emigrated 
into  En  inland  at  the  Pevocation,  but  bad  since  returned. 
This  nobleman  entertained  the  ardent  desire  of  recon- 
ciling the  King  with  bis  Protestant  subjects  ;  and  be 
was  encouraged  by  the  French  Court  to  endeavour  to 
bring  the  rebels  of  the  Cevennes  to  terms. 

One  of  tbe  first  things  Yillars  did,  was  to  proceed  on 
a  journey  through  the  devastated  districts;  and  he 
could  not  fail  to  be  horrified  at  tbe  sight  of  the  villages 
in  ruins,  the  wasted  vineyards,  the  untilled  fields,  and 
the  deserted  homesteads  which  met  bis  ej^es  on  every 
side.  Wherever  be  went,  he  gave  it  out  that  he  was 
ready  to  pardon  all  persons — rebels  as  well  as  their 
chiefs — w^bo  should  lay  down  their  arms  and  submit  to 
tbe  royal  clemency ;  but  that,  if  they  continued 
obstinate  and  refused  to  submit,  he  would  proceed 
against  them  to  tbe  last  extremity.  He  even  ofiered 
to  put  arms  in  tbe  bands  of  such  of  tbe  Protestant 
population  as  would  co-operate  with  him  in  suppressing 
the  insurrection. 

In  the  meantime,  the  defeated  Camisards  under 
Poland  were  reorganizing  their  forces,  and  preparing 
again  to  take  the  field.     They  were  unwilling  to  submit 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION,  ijs 

themselves  to  tlie  professed  clemency  of  Yillars,  without 
some  sufficient  guarantee  that  their  religious  rights — 
in  defence  of  which  they  had  taken  up  arms — would 
be  respected.  Koland  was  already  establishing  new 
magazines  in  place  of  those  which  had  been  destroj^ed ; 
he  was  again  recruiting  his  brigades  from  the  Protest- 
ant communes,  and  many  of  those  who  had  recovered 
from  their  wounds  again  rallied  under  his  standard. 

At  this  juncture,  D'Aigalliers  suggested  to  Yillars 
that  a  negotiation  should  be  opened  directly  with  the 
Camisard  chiefs  to  induce  them  to  lay  down  their  arms. 
Roland  refused  to  listen  to  any  overtures ;  but  Cavalier 
was  more  accessible,  and  expressed  himself  willing  to 
negotiate  for  peace  provided  his  religion  was  respected 
and  recognised. 

And  Cavalier  was  right.  He  saw  clearly  that  longer 
resistance  was  futile,  that  it  could  only  end  in  increased 
devastation  and  destruction ;  and  he  was  wise  in 
endeavouring  to  secure  the  best  possible  terms  under 
the  circumstances  for  his  suffering  co-religionists. 
Roland,  who  refused  all  such  overtures,  was  the  more 
imcompromising  and  tenacious  of  purpose  ;  but  Cavalier, 
notwithstanding  his  extreme  youth,  was  by  far  the  more 
practical  and  politic  of  the  two. 

There  is  no  doubt  also  that  Cavalier  had  beg^un  to 
weary  of  the  struggle.  He  became  de2:)ressed  and  sad, 
and  even  after  a  victory  he  would  kneel  down  amidst 
the  dead  and  wounded,  and  pray  to  God  that  He  would 
turn  the  heart  of  the  Eing  to  mercy,  and  help  to  re- 
,  establish  the  ancient  temples  throughout  the  land. 

An  interview  with  Cavalier  was  eventually  arranged 
by  Lalande.  The  brigadier  invited  him  to  a  conference, 
guaranteeing  him  safe  conduct,  and  intimating  that  if 
he  refused  the  meeting,  he  would  be  regarded  as  the 


174  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

enemy  of  peace,  and  held,  responsible  before  God  and 
man  for  all  future  bloodshed.  Cavalier  rej^lied  to 
Lalande's  invitation,  accepting  tbe  interview,  indicating 
tbe  place  and  the  time  of  meeting. 

Catinat,  the  Camisard  general  of  horse,  was  the 
bearer  of  Cavalier's  letter,  and  he  rode  on  to  Alais  to 
deliver  it,  arrayed  in  magnificent  costume.  Lalande  was 
at  table  when  Catinat  was  shown  in  to  him.  Observing 
the  strange  uniform  and  fierce  look  of  the  intruder,  the 
brigadier  asked  who  he  was.  "Catinat!"  was  the 
reply.  "What,"  cried  Lalande,  " are  you  the  Catinat 
who  killed  so  many  people  in  Beaucaire  P  "  "  Yes,  it 
is  I,"  said  Catinat,  "and  I  only  endeavoured  to 
do  my  duty."  "  You  are  hardy,  indeed,  to  dare  to 
show  yourself  before  me."  "I  have  come,"  said  the 
Camisard,  * '  in  good  faith,  persuaded  that  you  are  an 
honest  man,  and  on  the  assurance  of  my  brother 
Cavalier  that  you  would  do  me  no  harm.  I  come  to 
deliA^er  you  his  letter."  And  so  saying,  he  handed  it 
to  the  brigadier.  Hastily  perusing  the  letter,  Lalande 
said,  "  Go  back  to  Cavalier,  and  tell  him  that  in  two 
hours  I  shall  be  at  the  Bridge  of  Avene  with  only  ten 
ofiicers  and  thirty  dragoons." 

The  interview  took  place  at  the  time  appointed,  on 
the  bridge  over  the  Avene,  a  few  miles  south  of  Alais. 
Cavalier  arrived,  attended  by  three  hundred  foot  and 
sixty  Camisard  dragoons.  "When  the  two  chiefs 
recognised  each  other,  they  halted  their  escorts,  dis- 
mounted, and,  followed  by  some  officers,  proceeded  on 
foot  to  meet  each  other. 

Lalande  had  brought  with  him  Cavalier's  younger 
brother,  who  had  been  for  some  time  a  prisoner,  and 
presented  him,  saying,  "  The  King  gives  him  to  you  in 
token  of  his  merciful  intentions."     The  brothers,  who 


END  OF  THE  C AMIS  ARE  INSURRECTION.  175 

had  not  met  since  their  mother's  death,  embraced  and 
wept.  Cavalier  thanked  the  general ;  and  then,  leaving 
their  officers,  the  two  went  on  one  side,  and  conferred 
together  alone. 

"  The  King,"  said  Lalande,  "  wishes,  in  the  exercise 
of  his  clemency,  to  terminate  this  war  amongst  his  sub- 
jects;  what  are  your  terms  and  your  demands  ?  "  "  They 
consist  of  three  things,"  replied  Cavalier  :  "  liberty  of 
worship ;  the  deliverance  of  our  brethren  who  are  in 
prison  and  at  the  galleys ;  and,  if  the  first  condition 
be  refused,  then  free  permission  to  leave  France." 
"  How  many  persons  would  wish  to  leave  the  kingdom  ?" 
asked  Lalande.  "  Ten  thousand  of  various  ages  and 
both  sexes."  "  Ten  thousand !  It  is  impossible  ! 
Leave  might  possibly  be  granted  for  two,  but  certainly 
not  for  ten."  *'Then,"  said  Cavalier,  "if  the  King 
will  not  allow  us  to  leave  the  kingdom,  he  will  at  least 
re-establish  our  ancient  edicts  and  privileges  ?  " 

Lalande  promised  to  report  the  result  of  the  confer- 
ence to  the  marshal,  though  he  expressed  a  doubt 
whether  he  could  agree  to  the  terms  proposed.  The 
brigadier  took  leave  of  Cavalier  by  expressing  the 
desire  to  be  of  service  to  him  at  any  time ;  but  he  made 
a  gross  and  indelicate  mistake  in  offering  his  purse  to 
the  Camisard  chief.  "No,  no!"  said  Cavalier,  reject- 
ing it  with  a  look  of  contempt,  "  I  wish  for  none  of 
your  gold,  but  only  for  religious  libertj',  or,  if  that  be 
refused,  for  a  safe  conduct  out  of  the  kingdom." 

Lalande  then  asked  to  be  taken  up  to  the  Camisard 
troop,  who  had  been  watching  the  proceedings  of  their 
leader  with  great  interest.  Coming  up  to  them  in  the 
ranks,  he  said,  "  Here  is  a  purse  of  a  hundred  louis 
with  which  to  drink  the  King's  health."  Their  reply 
was  like  their   leader's,    "  We  want  no   money,    but 


176  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

liberty  of  conscience."  "It  is  not  in  my  power  to 
grant  you  that/'  said  the  general,  "but  you  will  do 
well  to  submit  to  the  King's  will."  "  We  are  ready/' 
said  they,  "  to  obey  his  orders,  proyided  he  grants  our 
just  demands ;  but  if  not,  we  are  prepared  to  die 
arms  in  hand."  And  thus  ended  this  memorable 
interview,  which  lasted  for  about  two  hours  ;  Lalande 
and  his  followers  returning  to  Alais,  while  Cavalier 
went  with  his  troop  in  the  direction  of  Yezenobres. 

Cavalier's  enemies  say  that  in  the  course  of  his  inter- 
view with  Lalande  he  was  offered  honours,  rewards, 
and  promotion,  if  he  would  enter  the  King's  service  ; 
and  it  is  added  that  Cavalier  was  temj)ted  by  these 
offers,  and  thereby  proved  false  to  his  cause  and  fol- 
lowers. But  it  is  more  probable  that  Cavalier  was 
siucere  in  his  desire  to  come  to  fair  terms  with  the 
King,  observing  the  impossibility,  under  the  circum- 
stances, of  prolonging  the  struggle  against  the  royal 
armies  with  any  reasonable  prospect  of  success.  If 
Cavalier  were  really  bribed  by  any  such  promises  of 
promotion,  at  all  events  such  promises  were  never 
fulfilled ;  nor  did  the  French  monarch  reward  him 
in  any  way  for  his  endeavours  to  bring  the  Camisard 
insurrection  to  an  end. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Koland  to  hold  aloof  from 
these  negotiations,  and  refuse  to  come  to  any  terms 
;^'hatever  with  "  Baal."  As  if  to  separate  himself 
jntirely  from  Cavalier,  he  withdrew  into  the  Uj)per 
Cevennes  to  resume  the  war.  At  the  very  time  that 
Cavalier  was  holding  the  conference  with  the  royalist 
general  at  the  Bridge  of  the  Avene,  Roland  and  Joany, 
with  a  body  of  horse  and  foot,  waylaid  the  Count  de 
Tournou  at  the  plateau  of  Font-morte — the  place 
where  Seguier,  the   first   Camisard  leader,  had   been 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.  177 

defeated  and  captured — and  suddenly  fell  upon  the 
loyalists,  putting  them  to  flight. 

A  rich  booty  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Camisards, 
j)art  of  which  consisted  of  the  quarter's  rental  of  the 
confiscated  estate  of  Saigas,  in  the  possession  of  the 
King's  collector,  Yiala,  whom  the  royalist  trooj^s  were 
escorting  to  St.  Jean  de  Gard.  The  collector,  who  had 
>made  himself  notorious  for  his  cruelty,  was  put  to 
death  after  frightful  torment,  and  his  son  and  nephew 
were  also  shot.  So  far,  therefore,  as  Eoland  and  his 
associates  were  concerned,  there  appeared  to  be  no 
intention  of  surrender  or  compromise  ;  and  Yillars  was 
under  the  necessity  of  prosecuting  the  war  against  them 
to  the  last  extremity. 

In  the  meantime,  Cavalier  was  hailed  throughout 
the  low  country  as  the  pacificator  of  Languedoc.  The 
people  on  both  sides  had  become  heartily  sick  of  the 
war,  and  were  glad  to  be  rid  of  it  on  any  terms  that 
promised  peace  and  security  for  the  future.  At  the 
invitation  of  Marshal  Yillars,  Cavalier  proceeded 
towards  Nismes,  and  his  march  from  town  to  town  was 
one  continuous  ovation.  He  was  eagerly  welcomed  by 
the  pojDulation ;  and  his  men  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  the  garrisons  of  the  places  through  which 
they  passed.  Every  liberty  was  allowed  him  ;  and  not 
a  day  passed  without  a  religious  meeting  being  held, 
accompunied  with  public  preaching,  prajdng,  and  psalm- 
singing.  At  length  Cavalier  and  his  little  army  ap- 
proached the  neighbourhood  of  Nismes,  where  his 
arrival  was  anticipated  with  extraordinary  interest. 

The  beautiful  old  city  had  witnessed  many  strange 
sights  ;  but  probably  the  entry  of  the  young  Camisard 
chief  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  all.  This 
herd-boy  and  baker's  apprentice  of  the  Cevennes,  after 


178  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

holding  at  bay  the  armies  of  France  for  nearly  three 
years,  had  come  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  with  its 
most  famous  general.  Leaving  the  greater  part  of  his 
cayalry  and  the  whole  of  his  infantry  at  St.  Cesaire,  a 
few  miles  from  Nismes,  Cavalier  rode  towards  the  town 
attended  by  eighteen  horsemen  commanded  by  Catinat. 
On  approaching  the  southern  gate,  he  found  an  immense 
multitude  waiting  his  arrival.  ''He  could  not  have 
been  more  royally  welcomed,"  said  the  priest  of  St. 
Germain,  *'  had  he  been  a  king.'' 

Cavalier  rode  at  the  head  of  his  troop  gaily  attired  , 
for  fine  dress  was  one  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  Camisard 
chiefs.  He  wore  a  tight-fitting  doeskin  coat  ornamented 
with  gold  lace,  scarlet  breeches,  a  muslin  cravat,  and  a 
large  beaver  with  a  white  plume ;  his  long  fair  hair 
hanging  over  his  shoulders.  Catinat  rode  by  his  side 
on  a  high-mettled  charger,  attracting  all  eyes  by  his 
fine  figure,  his  martial  air,  and  his  magnificent  costume. 
Cavalier's  fiiithful  friend,  Daniel  Billard,  rode  on  his 
left  ;  and  behind  followed  his  little  brother  in  military 
uniform,  between  the  Baron  d'Aigalliers  and  Lacombe, 
the  agents  for  peace. 

The  cavalcade  advanced  through,  the  dense  crowd, 
wbich.  could  with  difficulty  be  kept  back,  past  the 
Roman  Amphitheatre,  and  along  the  Rue  St.  Antoine, 
to  the  Garden  of  the  Recollets,  a  Franciscan  convent, 
nearly  oj^posite  the  elegant  Roman  temple  known  as 
the  Maison  Caree.*  Alighting  from  his  horse  at  the 
gate,  and  stationing  his  guard  there  under  the  charge 
of  Catinat,  Cavalier  entered  the  garden,  and  was  con- 
ducted to  Marshal  Yillars,  with  whom  was  Baville,  in- 
tendant  of  the  province  ;  Baron  Sandricourt,  governor 

*  The  Xismes   Theatre   now   occupies    pjirt   of    the    Jardin    des 
Secollels.  , 


END  OF  THE  C AMI  SARD  INSURRECTION.   179 

of  Nismes  ;  General  Lalande,  and  otlier  dignitaries. 
Cavalier  looked  such  a  mere  boy,  that  Yillars  at  first 
could  scarcely  believe  that  it  was  the  celebrated 
Camisard  chief  who  stood  before  him.  The  marshal, 
however,  advanced  several  steps,  and  addressed  some 
complimentary  words  to  Cavalier,  to  which  he  respect- 
fully replied. 

The  conference  then  began  and  proceeded,  though 
not  without  frequent  interruptions  from  Baville,  who 
had  so  long  regarded  Cavalier  as  a.  desj^icable  rebel, 
that  he  could  scarcely  brook  the  idea  of  the  King's 
marshal  treating  with  him  on  anything  like  equal 
terms.  But  the  marshal  checked  the  intendant  bj^ 
reminding  him  that  he  had  no  authority  to  interfere  in 
a  matter  which  the  King  had  solely  entrusted  to  him- 
self. Then  turning  to  Cavalier,  he  asked  him  to  state 
his  conditions  for  a  treaty  of  peace. 

Cavalier  has  set  forth  in  his  memoirs  the  details  of 
the  conditions  proposed  by  him,  and  which  he  alleges 
were  afterwards  duly  agreed  to  and  signed  by  Yillars 
and  Baville,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1704,  on  the  part  of 
the  King.  The  first  condition  was  liberty  of  conscience, 
with  the  privilege  of  holding  religious  assemblies  in 
country  places.  This  was  agreed  to,  subject  to  the 
Protestant  temples  not  being  rebuilt.  The  second — 
that  all  Protestants  in  prison  or  at  the  galleys  should  be 
set  at  liberty  within  six  weeks  from  the  date  of  the 
treaty — was  also  agreed  to.  The  third — that  all  who 
had  left  the  kingdom  on  account  of  their  religion 
should  have  liberty  to  return,  and  be  restored  to  their 
estates  and  privileges — was  agreed  to,  subject  to  their 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance.  The  fourth — as  to  the 
re- establishment  of  the  parliament  of  Languedoc  on  its 
ancient   footing — was    promised    consideration.      The 

13 


i8o  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

fiftli  and  sixtli — tliat  tlie  province  sliould  be  free  from 
capitation  tax  for  ten  years,  and  tliat  the  Protestants 
should  hold  Montpellier,  Cette,  Perpignan,  and  Aigue- 
mortes,  as  cautionary  towns — were  refused.  The 
seventh — that  those  inhabitants  of  the  Cevennes  whose 
houses  had  been  burnt  during  the  civil  war  should  pay 
no  imposts  for  seven  years — was  granted.  And  the 
eighth — that  Cavalier  should  raise  a  regiment  of 
dragoons  to  serve  the  King  in  Portugal — was  also 
granted. 

These  conditions  are  said  to  have  been  agreed  to  on 
the  distinct  understanding  that  the  insurrection  should 
forthwith  cease,  and  that  all  persons  in  arms  against 
the  Kins:  should  lav  them  down  and  submit  themselves 
to  his  majesty's  clemency. 

The  terms  having  been  generally  agreed  to,  Cavalier 
respectfully  took  his  leave  of  the  marshal,  and  returned 
to  his  comrades  at  the  gate.  But  Catinat  and  the 
Camisard  guard  had  disappeared.  The  conference  had 
lasted  two  hours,  during  which  Cavalier's  general  of 
horse  had  become  tired  of  waiting,  and  gone  with  his 
companions  to  refresh  himself  at  the  sign  of  the  Golden 
Cup.  On  his  way  thither,  he  witched  the  world  of 
Nismes  with  his  noble  horsemanship,  making  his 
charger  bound  and  prance  and  curvet,  greatly  to  the 
delight  of  the  immense  crowd  that  followed  him. 

On  the  return  of  the  Camisard  guard  to  the  Pecollets, 
Cavalier  mounted  his  horse,  and,  escorted  by  them, 
proceeded  to  the  Hotel  de  la  Poste,  where  he  rested. 
In  the  evening,  he  came  out  on  the  Esplanade,  and 
walked  freely  amidst  the  crowd,  amongst  whom  were 
many  ladies,  eager  to  see  the  Camisard  hero,  and  happy 
if  they  could  but  hear  him  speak,  or  touch  his  dress. 
He   then   went   to   visit   the   mother    of    Daniel,   his 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.   i8i 

favourite  prophet,  a  native  of  Nismes,  wliosc  father 
and  brother  were  both  prisoners  because  of  their 
religion.  Returning  to  the  hotel,  Cavalier  mustered 
his  guard,  and  set  out  for  Calvisson,  followed  by 
hundreds  of  people,  singing  together  as  they  passed 
through  the  town  gate  the  133rd  Psalm — "  Behold, 
how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell 
together  in  unity  ! " 

Cavalier  remained  with  his  compmions  at  Calvisson 
for  eight  days,  during  which  he  enjoyed  the  most 
perfect  freedom  of  action.  He  held  public  religious 
services  daily,  at  first  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  demolished 
Protestant  temple,  and  afterwards,  when  the  space  was 
insufficient,  in  the  open  plain  outside  the  town  walls. 
People  came  from  all  quarters  to  attend  them — from 
the  Yaunage,  from  Sommieres,  from  Lunel,  from 
Nismes,  and  even  from  Montpellier.  As  many  as  forty 
thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  resorted  to  the  services 
during  Cavalier's  sojourn  at  Calvisson.  The  plains  re- 
sounded with  preaching  and  psalmody  from  morning 
until  evening,  sometimes  until  late  at  night,  by  torch- 
light. 

These  meetings  were  a  great  cause  of  offence  to  the 
more  bigoted  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  saw  in 
them  the  triumph  of  their  enemies.  They  muttered 
audibly  against  the  policy  of  Yillars,  who  was  tolerating 
if  not  encouraging  heretics — worthy,  in  their  estimation, 
only  of  perdition.  Flechier,  Bishop  of  JS'ismes,  was 
full  of  lamentations  on  the  subject,  and  did  not  scruple 
to  proclaim  that  war,  with  all  its  horrors,  was  even 
more  tolerable  than  such  a  peace  as  this. 

Unhappily,  the  peace  proved  only  of  short  duration, 
and  Cavalier's  anticipations  of  unity  and  brotherly  love 
were  not   destined  to  be   fulfilled.     Whether  Roland 


iS2  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Tras  jealous  of  the  popularit}^  achieved  by  Cavalier,  or 
suspected  treachery  on  the  part  of  the  Koyalists,  or 
whether  he  still  believed  in  the  ability  of  his  followers 
to  conquer  religious  liberty  and  compel  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  ancient  edicts  by  the  sword,  does  not 
clearly  appear.  At  all  events,  he  refused  to  be  com- 
mitted in  any  way  by  what  Cavalier  had  done  ;  and 
when  the  treatj^  entered  into  with  Yillars  was  submitted 
to  Roland  for  approval,  he  refused  to  sign  it.  A 
quarrel  had  almost  occurred  between  the  chiefs,  and 
hot  words  passed  between  them.  But  Cavalier  con- 
trolled himself,  and  still  hoped  to  persuade  Eoland  to 
adopt  a  practicable  course,  and  bring  the  unhappy  war 
to  a  conclusion. 

It  was  at  length  agreed  between  them  that  a  further 
effort  should  be  made  to  induce  Yillars  to  grant  more 
liberal  terms,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  rebuild- 
ing of  the  Protestant  temples  ;  and  Cavalier  consented 
that  Salomon  should  accompany  him  to  an  interview 
with  the  marshal,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  such  a 
modification  of  the  treaty  as  should  meet  Roland's 
views.  Accordingly,  another  meeting  shortly  after 
took  place  in  the  Garden  of  the  Recollets  at  Kismes, 
Cavalier  leaving  it  to  Salomon  to  be  the  spokesman  on 
the  occasion. 

But  Salomon  proved  as  uncompromising  as  his  chief. 
He  stated  his  ultimatum  bluntly  and  firml}' — re- 
establishment  of  the  Edict  of  Kantes,  and  complete 
liberty  of  conscience.  On  no  other  terms,  he  said, 
would  the  Camisards  lay  down  their  arms.  Yillars  was 
courtly  and  polite  as  usual,  but  he  was  as  firm  as 
Salomon.  He  would  adhere  to  the  terms  that  had  been 
agreed  to,  but  could  not  comply  with  the  conditions 
proposed.     The  discussion  lasted  for  two  hours,  and  at 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.   183 

length  became  stormy  and  threatening  on  the  part  of 
Salomon,  on  which  the  marshal  turned  on  his  heel  and 
left  the  apartment. 

Cavalier's  followers  had  not  yet  been  informed  of  the 
conditions  of  the  treaty  into  which  he  had  entered  with 
Yillars,  but  they  had  been  led  to  believe  that  the  Edict 
w^as  to  be  re-established  and  liberty  of  worship  restored. 
Their  suspicions  had  already  been  roused  by  the  hints 
thrown  out  bv  Ravanel,  who  was  as  obdurate  as  Roland 
in  his  refusal  to  lay  down  his  arms  until  the  Edict  had 
been  re-established. 

While  Cavalier  was  still  at  JSfismes,  on  his  second 
mission  to  Yillars,  accompanied  by  Salomon,  Ravanel, 
who  had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  troop  at  Calvisson, 
assembled  the  men,  and  told  them  he  feared  they  were 
being  betrayed — that  they  were  to  be  refused  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion  in  temples  of  their  own,  but 
were  to  be  required  to  embark  as  King's  soldiers  on 
shipboard,  perhaps  to  perish  at  sea.  ^'  Brethren,"  said 
he,  "  let  us  cling  by  our  own  native  land,  and  live  and 
die  for  the  Eternal."  The  men  enthusiastically  ap- 
plauded the  stern  resolve  of  Ravanel,  and  awaited  with 
increasing  impatience  the  return  of  the  negotiating  chief. 

On  Cavalier's  return  to  his  men,  he  found,  to  his 
dismay,  that  instead  of  being  welcomed  back  with  the 
usual  cordiality,  they  were  drawn  up  in  arms  under 
Ravanel,  and  received  him  in  silence,  with  angry  and 
scowling  looks.  He  U23braided  E-avanel  for  such  a 
reception,  on  which  the  storm  immediately  burst. 
"  What  is  the  treaty,  then,"  cried  Ravanel,  ''  that  thou 
hast  made  with  this  marshal  ?  " 

Cavalier,  embarrassed,  evaded  the  inquiry  ;  but 
Ravanel,  encouraged  by  his  men,  proceeded  to  press  for 
the  information.   "  Well,"  said  Cavalier,  "  it  is  arranged 


'i84  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

that  we  shall  go  to  serve  in  Portugal.''  There  was 
at  once  a  violent  outburst  from  the  ranks.  "  Traitor  ! 
coward  !  then  thou  hast  sold  us  !  But  we  shall  have 
no  peace — no  peace  without  our  temples." 

At  sound  of  the  loud  commotion  and  shouting, 
Yincel,  the  King's  commissioner,  who  remained  at 
Calvisson  pending  the  negotiations,  came  running  up, 
and  the  men  in  their  rage  would  have  torn  him  to 
pieces,  but  Cavalier  threw  himself  in  their  way, 
exclaiming,  *'  Back,  men !  Do  him  no  harm,  kill  me 
instead."  His  voice,  his  gesture,  arrested  the  Camisards, 
and  Yincel  turned  and  fled  for  his  life. 

Ravanel  then  ordered  the  generah  to  be  beaten. 
The  men  drew  up  in  their  ranks,  and  putting  himself 
at  their  head,  Bavanel  marched  them  out  of  Calvisson 
by  the  northern  gate.  Cavalier,  humiliated  and  down- 
cast, followed  the  troop — their  leader  no  more.  He 
could  not  part  with  them  thus — the  men  he  had  so 
often  led  to  victory,  and  who  had  followed  him  so 
devotedly — but  hung  upon  their  rear,  hoping  they 
would  yet  relent  and  return  to  him  as  their  chief. 

Catinat,  his  general  of  horse,  observing  Cavalier 
following  the  men,  turned  upon  him.  *'  Whither 
wouldst  thou  go,  traitor?"  cried  Catinat.  What! 
Catinat,  of  all  others,  to  prove  unfaithful  ?  Yet  it  was 
so !  Catinat  even  presented  his  pistol  at  his  former 
chief,  but  he  did  not  fire. 

Cavalier  would  not  yet  turn  back.  He  hung  upon 
the  skirts  of  the  column,  entreating,  supplicating, 
adjuring  the  men,  by  all  their  former  love  for  him,  to 
turn  and  follow  him.  But  they  sternly  marched  on, 
scarcely'-  even  deigning  to  answer  him.  Ravanel  en- 
deavoured to  drive  him  back  by  reproaches,  which  at 
length  so  irritated  Cavalier,  that  he  di^ew  his  sword, 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.  185 

and  they  were  about  to  riisli  at  eacli  other,  when  one 
of  the  prophets  ran  between  them  and  prevented  blood- 
shed. 

Cavalier  did  not  desist  from  following  them  for 
several  miles,  until  at  length,  on  reaching  St.  Esteve, 
the  men  were  appealed  to  as  to  whom  they  would 
follow,  and  they  declared  themselves  for  Ravanel. 
Cavalier  made  a  last  appeal  to  their  allegiance,  and 
called  out,  ''Let  those  who  love  me,  follow  me!'' 
About  forty  of  his  old  adherents  detatched  themselves 
from  the  ranks,  and  followed  Cavalier  in  the  direction 
of  Nismes.  But  the  principal  hody  remained  with 
Kavanel,  who,  waving  his  sabre  in  the  air,  and 
shouting,  '' Yive  I'Epee  de  rEternel!"  turned  his 
men's  faces  northward  and  marched  on  to  rejoin 
Roland  in  the  Upper  Cevennes. 

Cavalier  was  completely  prostrated  by  the  desertion 
of  his  followers.  He  did  not  know  where  next  to  turn. 
He  could  not  rejoin  the  Camisard  camp  nor  enter  the 
villages  of  the  Cevennes,  and  he  was  ashamed  to 
approach  Yillars,  lest  he  should  be  charged  with  de- 
ceiving him.  But  he  sent  a  letter  to  the  marshal, 
informing  him  of  the  failure  of  his  negotiations,  the 
continued  revolt  of  the  Camisards,  and  their  rejection 
of  him  as  their  chief.  Yillars,  however,  was  gentle 
and  generous ;  he  was  persuaded  that  Cavalier  had 
acted  loyally  and  in  good  faith  throughout,  and  he 
sent  a  message  by  the  Baron  d'Aigalliers,  urgently 
inviting  him  to  return  to  Nismes  and  arrange  as  to  the 
future.  Cavalier  accordingly  set  out  forthwith,  accom- 
panied by  his  brother  and  the  prophet  Daniel,  and 
escorted  by  the  ten  horsemen  and  thirty  foot  who  still 
remained  faithful  to  his  person. 

It  is  not  necessary  further  to  pursue  the  history  of 


1 86  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Cavalier.  SafEce  it  to  say  tliat,  at  tlie  request  of 
Marslial  Yillars,  lie  proceeded  to  Paris,  wliere  lie  had 
an  unsatisfactory  interview  with  Louis  XIY.  ;  that 
fearing  an  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Eoman  Catholic 
party  to  make  him  a  prisoner,  he  fled  across  the 
frontier  into  Switzerland ;  that  he  eventually  reached 
England,  and  entered  the  English  army,  with  the 
rank  of  Colonel ;  that  he  raised  a  regiment  of  refugee 
Frenchmen,  consisting  priiici23ally  of  his  Camisard  fol- 
lowers, at  the  head  of  whom  he  fought  most  valiantly 
at  the  battle  of  Almanza ;  that  he  was  afterwards 
appointed  governor  of  Jersey,  and  died  a  major-general 
in  the  British  service  in  the  year  1740,  greatly  res- 
pected by  all  who  knew  him. 

Although  Cavalier  failed  in  carrying  the  treaty  into 
effect,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  his  secession  at  this 
juncture  proved  a  deathblow  to  the  insurrection.  The 
remaining  Camisard  leaders  endeavoured  in  vain  to 
incite  that  enthusiasm  amongst  their  followers  which 
had  so  often  before  led  them  to  victory.  The  men  felt 
that  they  were  fighting  without  hope,  and  as  it  were 
with  halters  round  their  necks.  Many  of  them  began 
to  think  that  Cavalier  had  been  justified  in  seeking  to 
secure  the  best  terms  practicable ;  and  they  dropped 
off',  by  tens  and  fifties,  to  join  their  former  leader, 
whose  head-quarters  for  some  time  continued  to  be  at 
Vallabergue,  an  island  in  the  Rhone  a  little  above 
Beaucaire. 

The  insurgents  were  also  in  a  great  measure  dis- 
armed by  Marshal  Yillars,  who  continued  to  pursue  a 
policy  of  clemency,  and  at  the  same  time  of  severity. 
He  offered  a  free  pardon  to  all  who  surrendered  them- 
selves, but  threatened  death  to  all  who  continued  to  resist 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.  187 

tlie  royal  troops.  lu  sign  of  his  clemency,  he  ordered 
the  gibbets  wbicli  bad  for  some  years  stood  en  per- 
manence  in  all  the  Tillages  of  the  Cevennes,  to  be 
removed  ;  and  be  went  from  town  to  town,  urging  all 
well-disposed  people,  of  both  religions,  to  co-operate 
witb  bim  in  putting  an  end  to  tbe  dreadful  civil  war 
that  bad  so  long  desolated  tbe  province. 

Moved  by  tbe  marshal's  eloquent  appeals,  the 
principal  towns  along  the  Garden  and  the  Yidourle 
appointed  deputies  to  proceed  in  a  body  to  the  camp  of 
Roland,  and  induce  him  if  possible  to  accept  the  prof- 
ferred  amnesty.  They  waited  upon  him  accordingly 
at  his  camp  of  St.  Felix  and  told  him  their  errand. 
But  his  answer  was  to  order  them  at  once  to  leave  the 
place  on  pain  of  death. 

Yillars  himself  sent  messengers  to  Roland — amongst 
others  the  Baron  d'Aigalliers — offering  to  guarantee 
that  no  one  should  be  molested  on  account  of  his 
religion,  provided  he  and  his  men  would  lay  down 
their  arms  ;  but  Roland  remained  inflexible — nothing 
short  of  complete  religious  liberty  would  induce  him 
to  surrender. 

Roland  and  Joany  were  still  at  the  head  of  about  a 
thousand  men  in  the  Upper  Cevennes.  Pont-de-Mont- 
vert  was  at  the  time  occupied  by  a  body  of  Miguelets, 
whom  they  determined  if  possible  to  destroy.  Divid- 
ing their  army  into  three  bodies,  they  proceeded  to 
assail  simultaneously  the  three  quarters  of  which  the 
village  is  composed.  But  the  commander  of  the 
Miguelets,  informed  of  Roland's  intention,  was  prepared 
to  receive  him.  One  of  the  Camisard  wings  was  at- 
tacked at  the  same  time  in  front  and  rear,  thrown  into 
confusion  and  defeated ;  and  the  other  wings  were 
driven  back  with  heavy  loss. 


i88  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

This  was  Eoland's  last  battle.  About  a  month 
later — in  August,  1704 — while  a  body  of  Camisards 
occupied  the  Chateau  of  Castelnau,  not  far  from  Ners, 
the  place  was  suddenly  surounded  at  night  by  a  body  of 
royalist  dragoons.  The  alarm  was  raised,  and  Eoland, 
half-dressed,  threw  himself  on  horseback  and  fled.  He 
was  pursued,  overtaken,  and  brought  to  a  stand  in  a 
wood,  where,  setting  his  back  to  a  tree  he  defended 
himself  bravely  for  a  time  against  overpowering 
numbers,  but  was  at  last  shot  through  the  heart  by  a 
dragoon,  and  the  Camisard  chief  lay  dead  upon  the 
ground. 

The  insurrection  did  not  long  survive  the  death  of 
Iloland.  The  other  chiefs  wandered  about  from  place 
to  place  with  their  followers,  but  they  had  lost  heart 
and  hope,  and  avoided  further  encounters  with  the 
royal  forces.  One  after  another  of  them  surrendered. 
Castanet  and  Catinat  both  laid  down  their  arms,  and 
were  allowed  to  leave  France  for  Switzerland,  accom- 
panied by  twenty-two  of  their  men.  Joany  also 
surrendered  with  forty-six  of  his  followers. 

One  by  one  the  other  chiefs  laid  down  their  arms — 
all  excepting  Abraham  and  Ravanel,  who  preferred 
liberty  and  misery  at  home  to  peace  and  exile  abroad. 
They  continued  for  some  time  to  wander  about  in  the 
Upper  Cevennes,  hiding  in  the  woods  by  day  and  sleep- 
ing in  caves  by  night — hunted,  deserted,  and  miserable. 
And  thus  at  last  was  Languedoc  pacified  ;  and  at  the 
beginning  of  January,  1705,  Marshal  Villars  returned 
to  \  ersailles  to  receive  the  congratulations  and  honours 
of  the  King. 

Several  futile  attempts  were  afterwards  made  by  the 
banished  leaders  to  rekindle  the  insurrection  from  its 
embers.    Catinat  and  Castanet,  wearied  of  their  inaction 


END  OF  THE  CAMISARD  INSURRECTION.  189 

at  Geneva,  stole  back  across  tlie  frontiner  and  rejoined 
Kavanel  in  the  Cevennes ;  but  their  rashness  cost  them 
their  lives.  They  were  all  captured  and  condemned  to 
death.  Castanet  and  Salomon  were  broken  alive  on 
the  wheel  on  the  Peyrou  at  Montpellier,  and  Catinat, 
Ravanel,  with  several  others,  were  burnt  alive  on  the 
Place  de  la  Beaucaire  at  jN^ismes. 

The  last  to  perish  were  Abraham  and  Joany.  The 
one  was  shot  while  holding  the  royal  troops  at  bay, 
firing  upon  them  from  the  roof  of  a  cottage  at  Mas- 
de-Couteau ;  the  other  was  captured  in  the  moun- 
tains near  the  source  of  the  Tarn.  He  was  on  his 
way  to  prison,  tied  behind  a  trooper,  like  Ptob  Poy 
in  Scott's  novel,  when,  suddenly  freeing  himself  from 
his  bonds  while  crossing  the  bridge  of  Pont-de-Montvert, 
he  slid  from  the  horse,  and  leapt  over  the  parapet  into 
the  Tarn.  The  soldiers  at  once  opened  fire  upon  the 
fugitive,  and  he  fell,  pierced  with  many  balls,  and 
was  carried  away  in  the  torrent.  And  thus  Pont-de- 
Montvert,  which  had  seen  the  beginning,  also  saw  the 
end  of  the  insurrection. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GALLEY-SLAVES   FOR   THE    FAITH. 

AFTER  the  deatli  of  the  last  of  the  Camisard  leaders, 
there  was  no  further  eflfort  at  revolt.  The  Hugue- 
nots seemed  to  be  entirely  put  down,  and  Protestantism 
completely  destroyed.  There  was  no  longer  any  resist- 
ance nor  protest.  If  there  were  any  Huguenots  wh6 
had  not  become  Catholics,  they  remained  mute.  Force 
had  at  last  succeeded  in  stifling  them. 

A  profound  quiet  reigned  for  a  time  throughout 
France.  The  country  had  become  a  circle,  closely 
watched  by  armed  men — by  dragoons,  infantry, 
archers,  and  coastguards — bej'ond  which  the  Hugue- 
nots could  not  escaj^e  without  running  the  risk  of  the 
prison,  the  galley,  or  the  gibbet. 

The  intendants  throughout  the  kingdom  flattered 
Louis  XIY.,  and  Louis  XIY.  flattered  himself,  that 
the  Huguenots  had  either  been  converted,  extirpated, 
or  expelled  the  kingdom.  The  King  had  medals 
struck,  announcing  the  ^'extinction  of  heresy. '^  A  pro- 
clamation to  this  efiect  was  also  published  by  the  King, 
dated  the  8th  of  March,  1715,  declaring  the  entire  con- 
version of  the  French  Huguenots,  and  sentencing  those 
who,  after  that  date,  relapsed  from  Catholicsm  to 
Protestantism,  to  all  the  penalties  of  heresy. 


GALLEY-SLAVES  FOR  THE  FAITH.      191 

What,  then,  had  become  of  the  Huguenots  ?  They 
were  for  the  moment  prostrate,  but  their  life  had  not 
gone  out  of  them.  Many  were  no  doubt  "  converted." 
They  had  not  strength  to  resist  the  pains  and  penalties 
threatened  by  the  State  if  they  refused.  They  accord- 
ingly attended  Mass,  and  assisted  in  ceremonies  which 
at  heart  they  detested.  Though  they  blushed  at  their 
apostasy,  they  were  too  much  broken  down  andVeary 
of  oppression  and  suffering  to  attempt  to  be  free. 

But  though  many  Huguenots  pretended  to  be 
•^converted,"  the  greater  number  silently  refrained. 
They  held  their  peace  and  bided  their  time.  Mean- 
while, however,  they  were  subject  to  all  the  annoyances 
of  persecution.  Persecution  had  seized  them  from  the 
day  of  their  birth,  and  never  relaxed  its  hold  until  the 
day  of  their  death.  Every  new-born  child  must  be  taken 
to  the  priest  to  be  baptized.  When  the  children  had 
grown  into  boys  and  girls,  they  must  go  to  school  and 
be  educated,  also  by  the  priest.  If  their  parents  re- 
fused to  send  them,  the  children  were  forcibly  seized, 
taken  away,  and  brought  up  in  the  Jesuit  schools  and 
nunneries.  And  lastly,  when  grown  up  into  young 
men  and  women,  they  must  be  married  by  the  priest, 
or  their  offspring  be  declared  illegitimate. 

The  Huguenots  refused  to  conform  to  all  this. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  by  no  means  easy  to  continue  to 
refuse  obeying  the  priest.  The  priest  was  well  served 
with  spies,  though  the  principal  spy  in  every  parish  was 
himself.  There  were  also  numerous  other  professional 
spies — besides  idlers,  mischief-makers,  and  "  good- 
natured  friends."  In  time  of  peace,  also,  soldiers  were 
usually  employed  in  performing  the  disgraceful  duty  of 
acting  as  spies  upon  the  Huguenots. 

The  Huguenot  was  ordered  to  attend  Mass  under  the 


192  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

penalty  of  fine  and  imprisonment.  Supposing  he 
refused,  because  lie  did  not  believe  tliat  tbe  priest  bad 
tbe  miraculous  power  of  converting  bread  and  wine 
into  something  tbe  very  opposite.  The  priest  insisted 
that  he  did  possess  this  power,  and  that  he  was  sujd- 
ported  by  the  State  in  demanding  that  the  Huguenot 
mud  come  and  worship  his  transubstantiation  of  bread 
into  flesh  and  wine  into  blood."  ''  I  do  not  believe 
it,"  said  the  Huguenot.  ''  But  I  order  you  to  come, 
for  Louis  XIY.  has  proclaimed  you  to  be  a  converted 
Catholic,  and  if  you  refuse  you  will  be  at  once  subject 
to  all  the  penalties  of  heresy."  It  was  certainly  very 
difficult  to  argue  with  a  priest  who  had  the  hangman 
at  his  back,  or  with  the  King  who  had  his  hundred 
thousand  dragoons.  And  so,  perhaps,  the  threatened 
Huguenot  went  to  Mass,  and  pretended  to  believe  all 
that  the  priest  had  said  about  his  miraculous  powers. 

But  many  resolutely  continued  to  refuse,  willing  to 
incur  the  last  and  heaviest  penalties.  Then  it  came 
to  be  seen  that  Protestantism,  although  declared 
defunct  by  the  King's  edict,  had  not  in  fact  expired, 
but  was  merely  reposing  for  a  time  in  order  to  make 
a  fresh  start  forward.  The  Huguenots  who  still  re- 
mained in  France,  whether  as  "  new  converts  "  or  as 
"  obstinate  heretics,"  at  length  began  to  emerge  from 
their  obscurity.  The}^  met  together  in  caves  and 
solitary  places — in  deep  and  rocky  gorges — in  valleys 
among  the  mountains — where  they  prayed  together, 
sang  together  their  songs  of  David,  and  took  counsel 
one  with  another. 

At  length,  from  private  meetings  for  prayer,  re- 
ligious assemblies  began  to  be  held  in  the  Desert,  and 
preachers  made  their  appearance.  The  spies  spread 
about   the   country   informed    the    intendants.      The 


GALLEY-SLAVES  FOR  THE  FALTH.      193 

meetings  were  often  surprised  by  the  military.  Some- 
times the  soldiers  would  come  upon  them  suddenly,  and 
fire  into  the  crowd  of  men,  women,  and  children.  On 
some  occasions  a  hundred  persons  or  more  would  be 
killed  upon  the  spot.  Of  those  taken  prisoners,  the 
preachers  were  hanged  or  broken  on  the  wheel,  the 
women  were  sent  to  prison,  and  the  children  to 
nunneries,  while  the  men  were  sent  to  be  galley-slaves 
for  life.* 

The  persecutions  to  which  Huguenot  women  and 
children  were  exposed  caused  a  sudden  enlargement 
of  all  the  prisons  and  nunneries  in  France.  Many  of 
the  old  castles  were  fitted  up  as  gaols,  and  even  their 
dungeons  were  used  for  the  incorrigible  heretics. 
One  of  the  worst  of  these  was  the  Tour  de  Constance 
in  the  town  of  Aiguemortes,  which  is  to  this  day  re- 
membered with  horror  as  the  principal  dungeon  of 
the  Huguenot  women. 

The  town  of  Aiguemortes  is  situated  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Gard,  close  to  the  Mediterranean,  whose  waters 
wash  into  the  salt  marshes  and  lagunes  by  which  it  is 
surrounded.  It  was  erected  in  the  thirteenth  century 
for  Philip  the  Bold,  and  is  still  interesting  as  an 
example  of  the  ancient  feudal  fortress.  The  fosse  has 
since  been  filled  up,  on  account  of  the  malaria  pro- 
duced by  the  stagnant  water  which  it  contained. 

*  In  the  Viverais  and  elsewhere  they  sang  the  song  of  the  per- 
secuted Church  : — 

•'Nos  fiUes  dans  les  monastferes, 

Nos  prisonniers  dans  les  cachots, 
Kos  martyrs  dont  le  sang  se  repand  a  grands  flots, 

Nos  confesseurs  sur  les  galeres, 

Kos  malades  persecutes, 
Nos  mourants  exposes  a  plus  d'une  furie, 

Nos  morts  traines  a  la  A'oierie, 

Te  disent  (6  Dieu  !)  nos  calamiles." 


194  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

The  place  is  approached  by  a  long  cansewaj  raised 
above  the  marsh,  and  the  entrance  to  the  tower  is 
spanned  by  an  ancient  gatehouse.  Jn  advance  of  the 
tower,  to  the  north,  in  an  angle  of  the  wall,  is  a  single, 
large  round  tower,  which  served  as  a  citadel.  It  is 
sixty-six  feet  in  diameter  and  ninety  feet  high,  sur- 
mounted by  a  lighthouse  turret  of  thirty-four  feet.  It 
consists  of  two  large  vaulted  apartments,  the  staircase 
from  the  one  to  the  other  being  built  within  the  wall 
itself,  which  is  about  eighteen  feet  thick.  The  upper 
chamber  is  dimly  lighted  by  narrow  chinks  through  the 
walls.  The  lowest  of  the  apartments  is  the  dungeon, 
which  is  almost  without  light  and  air.  In  the  centre 
of  the  floor  is  a  hole  connected  with  a  reservoir  of  water 
below. 

This  Tour  de  Constance  continued  to  be  the  principal 
prison  for  Huguenot  women  in  France  for  a  period  of 
about  a  hundred  years.  It  was  always  horribly  un- 
healthy ;  and  to  be  condemned  to  this  dungeon  was 
considered  almost  as  certain  though  a  slower  death  than 
to  be  condemned  to  the  gallows.  Sixteen  Huguenot 
women  confined  there  in  1686  died  within  five 
months.  Most  of  them  were  the  wives  of  merchants  of 
Nismes,  or  of  men  of  property  in  the  district.  When 
the  prisoners  died  ofi",  the  dungeon  was  at  once  filled 
up  again  with  more  victims,  and  it  was  rarely,  if  ever, 
empty,  down  to  a  period  within  only  a  few  years  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution. 

The  punishment  of  the  men  found  attending  re- 
ligious meetings,  and  taken  prisoners  by  the  soldiers, 
was  to  be  sentenced  to  the  galleys,  mostly  for  life. 
They  were  usually  collected  in  large  numbers,  and  sent 
to  the  seaports  attached  together  by  chains.  They 
were  sent  openly,  sometimes  through  the  entire  length 


GALLEY-SLAVES  FOR   THE  FAITH.      195 

of  tlie  kingdom,  by  way  of  a  show.  The  object  was  to 
teach  the  horrible  delinquency  of  professing  Protestant- 
ism ;  for  it  could  not  be  to  show  the  greater  beautiful- 
ness  and  mercifulness  of  Catholicism. 

The  punishment  of  the  Chain  varied  in  degree. 
Sometimes  it  was  more  cruel  than  at  other  times.  This 
depended  upon  the  drivers  of  the  prisoners.  Marteilhe 
describes  the  purishment  during  his  conveyance  from 
Havre  to  Marseilles  in  the  winter  of  1712.*  The 
Chain  to  which  he  belonged  did  not  reach  Marseilles 
until  the  17th  January,  1713.  The  season  was  bitterlj^ 
cold ;  but  that  made  no  difference  in  the  treatment  of 
Huguenot  prisoners. 

The  Chain  consisted  of  a  file  of  prisoners,  chained 
one  to  another  in  various  ways.  On  this  occasion,  each 
pair  was  fastened  by  the  neck  with  a  thick  chain  three 
feet  long,  in  the  middle  of  which  was  a  round  ring. 
After  being  thus  chained,  the  pairs  were  placed  in  file, 
couple  behind  couple,  when  another  long  thick  chain 
was  passed  through  the  rings,  thus  running  along  the 
centre  of  the  gang,  and  the  whole  were  thus  doubly 
chained  together.  There  were  no  less  than  four 
hundred  prisoners  in  the  chain  described  by  Marteilhe. 
The  number  had,  however,  greatly  fallen  off  through 
deaths  by  barbarous  treatment  before  it  reached 
Marseilles. 

It  must,  however,  be  added,  that  the  v»^hole  gang  did 
not  consist  of  Huguenots,  but  only  a  part  of  it — the 
Huguenots  being  distinguished  by  their  red  jackets. 
The  rest  consisted  of  murderers,  thieves,  deserters,  and 
criminals  of  various  sorts. 


*  "  Autobiography  of  a  French  Protestant  condemned  to  the 
Galleys  because  of  his  Religion."  Eotterdam,  1757.  (Since  reprinted 
by  the  Religious  Tract  Society  ) 

14 


196  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

The  difficulty  wliicli  the  prisoners  had  in  marching 
along  the  roads  was  very  great ;  the  weight  of  chain 
which  each  member  had  to  carry  being  no  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  The  lodging  they  had 
at  night  was  of  the  worst  description.  While  at  Paris, 
the  galley-slaves  were  quartered  in  the  Chateau  de  la 
Tournelle,  which  was  under  tJie  spiritual  direction  of 
the  Jesuits.  The  gaol  consisted  of  a  large  cellar  or 
dungeon,  fitted  with  huge  beams  of  oak  fixed  close  to 
the  floor.  Thick  iron  collars  were  attached  by  iron 
chains  to  the  beams.  The  collar  being  placed  round 
the  prisoner's  neck,  it  was  closed  and  riveted  upon  an 
anvil  with  heavy  blows  of  a  hammer. 

Twenty  men  in  pairs  were  thus  chained  to  each  beam. 
The  dungeon  was  so  large  that  five  hundred  men  could 
thus  be  fastened  up.  They  could  not  sleep  lying  at 
full  length,  nor  could  they  sleep  sitting  or  standing  up 
straight ;  the  beam  to  which  they  were  chained  being 
too  high  in  the  one  case  and  too  low  in  the  other.  The 
torture  which  they  endured,  therefore,  is  scarcely  to  be 
described.  The  prisoners  were  kept  there  until  a  suffi- 
cient number  could  be  collected  to  set  out  in  a  great 
chain  for  Marseilles. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  first  stage  out  of  Paris,  at 
Charenton,  after  a  heavy  day's  fatigue,  their  lodging 
was  no  better  than  before.  A  stable  was  found  in 
which  they  were  chained  up  in  such  a  way  that  they 
could  with  difficulty  sit  down,  and  then  only  on  a  dung- 
heap.  After  they  had  lain  there  for  a  few  hours,  the 
prisoners'  chains  were  taken  off",  and  they  were  turned 
out  into  the  spacious  courtyard  of  the  inn,  where  they 
were  ordered  to  strip  ofi"  their  clothes,  put  them  down 
at  their  feet,  and  march  over  to  the  other  side  of  the 
courtyard. 


GALLEY-SLAVES  FOR  THE  FAITH.      i9j 

Tlie  object  of  this  proceeding  was  to  search  the 
pockets  of  the  prisoners,  examine  their  clothes,  and  find 
whether  they  contained  any  knives,  files,  or  other  tools 
which  might  be  used  for  cutting  the  chains.  All  money 
and  other  valuables  or  necessaries  that  the  clothes  con- 
tained were  at  the  same  time  taken  away. 

The  night  was  cold  and  frosty,  with  a  keen  north 
wind  blowing ;  and  after  the  prisoners  had  been  ex- 
posed to  it  for  about  half  an  hour,  their  bodies  became 
so  benumbed  that  they  could  scarcely  move  across  the 
yard  to  where  their  clothes  were  lying.  Next  morning 
it  was  found  that  eighteen  of  the  unfortunates  were 
happily  released  by  death. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  the  tortures  endured 
by  the  galley-slaves  to  the  end  of  their  journey.  One 
little  circumstance  may,  however,  be  mentioned. 
While  marching  towards  the  coast,  the  exhausted 
Huguenots,  weary  and  worn  out  by  the  heaviness  of 
their  chains,  were  accustomed  to  stretch  out  their 
little  wooden  cups  for  a  drop  of  water  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  villages  through  which  they  passed.  The 
women,  whom  they  mostly  addressed,  answered  their 
entreaties  with  the  bitterest  spite.  "Away,  away!'* 
they  cried,  "  you  are  going  where  you  will  have  water 
enough  !  " 

"When  the  gang  or  chain  reached  the  port  at  which 
the  prisoners  were  to  be  confined,  they  were  drafted  on 
board  the  difierent  galleys.  These  were  for  the  most 
part  stationed  at  Toulon,  but  there  were  also  other 
galleys  in  which  Huguenots  were  imprisoned  —  at 
Marseilles,  Dunkirk,  Brest,  St.  Malo,  and  Bordeaux. 
Let  us  briefly  describe  the  galley  of  those  days. 

The  royal  galley  was  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
long  and  forty  feet  broad,  and  was  capable  of  containing 


1 98  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

about  five  hundred  men.  It  liad  fifty  benclies  for  rowers, 
twenty-five  on  each.  side.  Between  tliese  two  rows  of 
benclies  was  the  raised  middle  gallery,  commonly  called 
tbe  waist  of  tlie  sbip,  four  feet  bigli  and  about  three  or 
four  feet  broad.  The  oars  were  fifty  feet  long,  of  which 
thirty-seven  feet  were  outside  the  ship  and.  thirteen 
within.  Six  men  worked  at  each  oar,  all  chained  to 
the  same  bench.  They  had  to  row  in  unison,  otherwise 
they  would  be  heavily  struck  by  the  return  rowers  both 
before  and  behind  them.  They  were  under  the  con- 
stant command  of  the  comite  or  galley-slave-driver,  who 
struck  all  about  him  with  his  long  whijD  in  urging  them 
to  work.  To  enable  his  strokes  to  tcU^  the  men  sat 
naked  while  they  rowed.*  Their  dress  was  always 
insufficient,  summer  and  winter — the  lower  part  of  their 
bodies  being  covered  with  a  short  red  jacket  and  a  sort 
of  apron,  for  their  manacles  prevented  them  wearing 
any  other  dress. 

The  chain  which  bound  each  rower  to  his  bench  was 
fastened  to  his  leg,  and  was  of  such  a  length  as  to 
enable  his  feet  to  come  and  go  whilst  rowing.  At 
night,  the  galley-slave  slept  where  he  sat — on  the  bench 
on  which  he  had  been  rowing  all  day.  There  was  no 
room  for  him  to  lie  down.  lie  never  quitted  his  bench 
except  for  the  hosjoital  or  the  grave ;  yet  some  of  the 
Huguenot  rowers  contrived  to  live  upon  their  benches 
for  thirty  or  fortj^  years  ! 

During  all  these  years  they  toiled  in  their  chains  in 
a  hell  of  foul  and  disgusting  utterance,  for  they  were 


*  Le  comite  ou  chef  de  chiourme,  aide  de  deux  sous-comitcs, 
allait  et  veriait  sans  cesse  sur  le  coursier,  frappant  les  for9ats  a  coup 
de  nerfs  de  boeuf,  comme  un  cocher  ses  chevaux.  Pour  rendre  les 
coups  plus  sensible  et  pour  economiser  les  vetpments,  les  galeriens 
etaient  nus  quand  ils  ramaient.— Athaxase  Coquerel  fils.  Ze 
Formats  pour  la  Foi,  (34. 


GALLEY-SLAVES  FOR  THE  FAITH.       199 

mixed  up  witli  thieves  and  the  worst  of  criminals.  They 
ate  the  bread  and  drank  the  waters  of  bitterness.  Thej^ 
seemed  to  be  forsaken  by  the  world.  They  had  no  one 
to  love  them,  for  most  had  left  their  families  behind 
them  at  home,  or  perhaps  in  convents  or  prisons.  They 
lived  under  the  constant  threats  of  their  keepers,  who 
lashed  them  to  make  them  row  harder,  who  lashed 
them  to  make  them  sit  up,  or  lashed  them  to  make  them 
lie  down.  The  Chevalier  Langeron,  captain  of  La 
Palme,  of  which  Marteilhe  was  at  first  a  rower,  used 
to  call  the  comite  to  him  and  say,  ''Go  and  refresh 
the  backs  of  these  Huguenots  with  a  salad  of  strokes 
of  the  whip."  For  the  captain,  it  seems,  ''  held  the 
most  Jesuitical  sentiments,"  and  hated  his  Huguenot 
prisoners  far  worse  than  his  thieves  or  his  murderers.  * 

And  yet,  at  any  moment,  a  word  spoken  would  have 
made  these  Huguenots  free.  The  Catholic  priests 
frequently  visited  the  galleys  and  entreated  them  to 
become  converted.  If  "  converted,"  and  the  Huguenots 
would  only  declare  that  they  believed  in  the  miraculous 
powers  of  the  clergy,  their  chains  would  fall  away  from 
their  limbs  at  once  ;  and  they  would  have  been  restored 
to  the  world,  to  their  families,  and  to  liberty  !  And 
who  would  not  have  declared  themselves  ''  converted," 
rather  than  endure  these  horrible  i^unishments  ?  Yet 
by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  Huguenots  did  not. 
They  could  not  be  hypocrites.  They  would  not  lie  to 
God.  Eather  than  do  this,  they  had  the  heroism — 
some  will  call  it  the  obstinacy — to  remain  galley-slaves 
for  life ! 

Many  of  the  galley-slaves  did  not  survive  their  torture 
long.     Men  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  accustomed  to 
indoor  life,    could  not  bear  the  exposure  to  the  sun, 
*  "  The  Autobiography  of  a  French  Protestant,  86." 


200  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

rain,  and  snow,  wliicli  tlie  pimisliment  of  the  galley- 
slave  involved.  Tlie  old  men  and  the  young  soon 
succumbed  and  died.  Middle-aged  men  survived  the 
longest.  But  there  was  always  a  change  going  on. 
When  the  numbers  of  a  galley  became  thinned  by 
death,  there  were  other  Huguenots  ready  to  be  sent  on 
board — perhaps  waiting  in  some  inland  prison  until 
another  '*  Great  Chain  "  could  be  made  up  for  the  sea- 
ports, to  go  on  board  the  galley-ships,  to  be  manacled, 
tortured,  and  killed  off  as  before. 

Such  was  the  treatment  of  the  galley-slaves  in  time 
of  peace.  Eut  the  galleys  were  also  war-ships.  They 
carried  large  numbers  of  armed  men  on  board.  Some- 
times they  scoured  the  Mediterranean,  and  j)rotccted 
French  merchant- ships  against  the  Sallee  rovers.  At 
other  times  they  were  engaged  in  the  English  channel, 
attacking  Dutch  and  English  ships,  sometimes  picking 
up  a  prize,  at  other  times  in  actual  sea-fight. 

"VYhen  the  service  required,  they  were  compelled  to 
row  incessantly  night  and  day,  without  rest,  save  in  the 
last  extremity ;  and  they  were  treated  as  if,  on  the  first 
opportunity,  in  sight  of  the  encm}^  f^hey  would  revolt 
and  betray  the  ship ;  hence  the}^  were  constantly 
watched  by  the  soldiers  on  board,  and  if  any  commotion 
appeared  amongst  them,  they  were  shot  down  without 
ceremony,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  sea.  Loaded 
cannons  were  also  placed  at  the  end  of  the  benches  of 
rowers,  so  as  to  shoot  them  down  in  case  of  necessity. 

Whenever  an  enemy's  ship  came  up,  the  galley-slaves 
were  covered  over  with  a  linen  screen,  so  as  to  prevent 
them  giving  signals  to  the  enemy.  When  an  action 
occurred,  they  were  particularly  exposed  to  danger,  for 
the  rowers  and  their  oars  were  the  first  to  be  shot  at — 
just  as  the  boiler  or  screw  of  a  war- steamer  woidd  be 


GALLEY-SLAVES  FOR  THE  FAITH.      201 

shot  at  now — in  order  to  disable  the  ship.  The  galley- 
slaves  thus  suffered  much  more  from  the  enemy's  shot 
than  the  other  armed  men  of  the  ship.  The  rowers' 
benches  were  often  filled  wdth  dead,  before  the  soldiers 
and  mariners  on  board  had  been  touched. 

Marteilhe,  while  a  galley-slave  on  board  La  Palme, 
was  engaged  in  an  adventure  which  had  nearly  cost 
him  his  life.  Four  French  galleys,  after  cruising  along 
the  English  coast  from  Dover  to  the  Downs,  got  sight 
of  a  fleet  of  thirty-five  merchant  vessels  on  their  way 
from  the  Texel  to  the  Thames,  under  the  protection  of 
one  small  English  frigate.  The  commanders  of  the 
galleys,  taking  counsel  together,  determined  to  attack 
the  frigate  (which  they  thought  themselves  easily  able 
to  master),  and  so  capture  the  entire  English  fleet. 

The  captain  of  the  frigate,  when  he  saw  the  galleys 
approach  him,  ordered  the  merchantmen  to  crowd  sail 
and  make  for  the  Thames,  the  mouth  of  which  they  had 
nearly  reached.  He  then  sailed  down  upon  the  galleys, 
determined  to  sacrifice  his  ship  if  necessary  for  the 
safety  of  his  charge.  The  galleys  fired  into  him, 
but  he  returned  never  a  shot.  The  captain  of  the  galley 
in  which  Marteilhe  was,  said,  "  Oh,  he  is  coming  to 
surrender  !  "  The  frigate  was  so  near  that  the  French 
musqueteers  were  already  firing  full  upon  her.  All  of 
a  sudden  the  frigate  tacked  and  veered  round  as  if 
about  to  fly  from  the  galleys.  The  Frenchmen  called 
out  that  the  English  were  cowards  in  thus  trying 
to  avoid  the  battle.  If  they  did  not  surrender  at  once, 
they  would  sink  the  frigate  ! 

The  English  captain  took  no  notice.  The  frigate 
then  turned  her  stern  towards  the  galley,  as  if  to  give 
the  Frenchmen  an  opportunity  of  boarding  her.  The 
French  commander  ordered  the  galley  at  once  to  run  at 


202  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

the  enemy's  stern,  and  tlie  crew  to  board  tlie  frigate. 
The  rush  was  made ;  the  galley-slaves,  urged  by 
blows  of  the  whip,  rowing  with  great  force.  The 
galley  was  suddenly  nearing  the  stern  of  the  frigate, 
when  by  a  clever  stroke  of  the  helm  the  ship  moved  to 
one  side,  and  the  galley,  missing  it,  rushed  past.  All 
the  oars  on  that  side  were  suddenly  broken  off,  and  the 
galley  was  placed  immediately  under  the  broadside  of 
the  enemv. 

Then  began  the  English  part  of  the  game.  The 
French  galley  was  seized  with  grappling  irons  and 
hooked  on  to  the  English  broadside.  The  men  on 
board  the  galley  were  as  exposed  as  if  they  had  been 
upon  a  raft  or  a  bridge.  The  frigate's  guns,  which 
were  charged  with  grapeshot,  were  discharged  full  upon 
them,  and  a  frightful  carnage  ensued.  The  English 
also  threw  hand  grenades,  which  went  down  amongst 
the  rowers  and  killed  many.  The}"  next  boarded  the 
galley,  and  cut  to  pieces  all  the  armed  men  they  could 
lay  hold  of,  only  sparing  the  convicts,  who  could  make 
no  attempt  at  defence. 

The  English  captain  then  threw  off  the  galley,  which 
he  had  broadsided  and  disarmed,  in  order  to  look  after 
the  merchantmen,  which  some  of  the  other  galleys 
had  gone  to  intercept  on  their  way  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Thames.  Some  of  the  ships  had  already  been  cap- 
tured; but  the  commanders  of  the  galleys,  seeing  their 
fellow-commodores  flj'ing  signals  of  distress,  let  go  their 
prey,  and  concentrated  their  attack  upon  the  frigate. 
This  they  surrounded,  and  after  a  very  hard  struggle 
the  frigate  was  captured,  but  not  until  the  English 
captain  had  ascertained  that  all  the  fleet  of  which 
he  had  been  in  charge  had  entered  the  Thames  and 
were  safe. 


GALLEF-SLAVES  FOR   THE  FAITH.     203 

In  tlie  above  encounter  with,  the  English,  frigate 
Marteilhe  had  nearly  lost  his  life.  The  bench  on  which 
he  was  seated,  with  five  other  slaves,  was  opposite  one 
of  the  loaded  guns  of  the  frigate.  He  saw  that  it  must 
be  discharged  directly  upon  them.  His  fellows  tried 
to  lie  down  flat,  while  Marteilhe  himself  stood  up.  He 
saw  the  gunner  with  his  lighted  match  approach  the 
touchhole  ;  then  he  lifted  up  his  heart  to  God  ;  the 
next  moment  he  was  lying  stunned  and  prostrate  in 
the  centre  of  the  galley,  as  far  as  the  chain  would  allow 
him  to  reach.  He  was  lying  across  the  body  of  the  lieu- 
tenant, who  was  killed.  A  long  time  passed,  during 
which  the  fight  was  still  going  on,  and  then  Marteilhe 
came  to  himself,  towards  dark.  Most  of  his  fellow- 
slaves  were  killed.  He  himself  was  bleeding  from  a 
large  open  wound  on  his  shoulder,  another  on  his  knee, 
and  a  third  in  his  stomach.  Of  the  eighteen  men 
around  him  he  was  the  only  one  that  escaped,  with  his 
three  wounds. 

The  dead  were  all  thrown  into  the  sea.  The  men 
were  about  to  throw  Marteilhe  after  them,  but  while 
attempting  to  release  him  from  his  chain,  they  touched 
the  wound  upon  his  knee,  and  he  groaned  heavily. 
They  let  him  remain  where  he  lay.  •  Shortly  after, 
he  was  taken  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  hold  with 
the  other  men,  where  he  long  lay  amongst  the  wounded 
and  dying.  At  length  he  recovered  from  his  wounds, 
and  was  again  returned  to  his  bench,  to  re-enter  the 
horrible  life  of  a  galley-slave. 

There  was  another  mean  and  unmanly  cruelty,  con- 
nected with  this  galley-slave  service,  which  was  prac- 
tised only  upon  the  Huguenots.  If  an  assassin  or 
other  criminal  received  a  wound  in  the  service  of  the 
state  while  engaged  in  battle,  he  was  at  once  restored 


204  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

to  his  liberty  ;  but  if  a  Huguenot  was  wounded,  lie  was 
never  released.  He  was  returned  to  his  bench  and 
chained  as  before ;  the  wounds  he  had  received  being 
only  so  many  additional  tortures  to  be  borne  by  him 
in  the  course  of  his  punishment. 

Marteilhe,  as  we  have  already  stated,  was  disembarked 
when  he  had  sufficiently  recovered,  and  marched 
through  the  entire  length  of  France,  enchained  with 
other  malefactors.  On  his  arrival  at  Marseilles,  he  was 
placed  on  board  the  galley  Grand  Reale,  where  ho 
remained  until  peace  was  declared  between  England 
and  France  hj  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht.* 

Queen  Anne  of  England,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Marquis  de  Eochegade,  then  made  an  effort  to  obtain 
the  liberation  of  Protestants  serving  at  the  galleys; 
and  at  length,  out  of  seven  hundred  and  forty-two 
Huguenots  who  were  then  enslaved,  a  hundred  and 
thirty- six  were  liberated,  of  whom  Marteilhe  was  one. 
He  was  thus  enabled  to  get  rid  of  his  inhuman  country- 
men, and  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  Holland 
and  England,  where  Protestants  were  free. 

*  "Autobiography  of  a  Fiencli  Protestant,"  112 — 21. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ANTOINE     COURT. 

A  LMOST  at  the  very  time  tliat  Louis  XIY.  was 
-^^  lying  on  liis  deatli-bed  at  Versailles,  a  young 
man  conceived  tlie  idea  of  re-establishing  Protest- 
antism in  France !  Louis  XIY.  had  tried  to  enter 
heaven  by  superstition  and  cruelty.  On  his  death-bed 
he  began  to  doubt  whether  he  "had  not  carried  his 
authority  too  far."*  But  the  Jesuits  tried  to  make 
death  easy  for  him,  covering  his  body  with  relics  of 
the  true  cross. 

Yery  different  was  the  position  of  the  young  man 
who  tried  to  undo  all  that  Louis  XIY.,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  his  mistress  De  Maintenon,  and  his  Jesuit  con- 
fessor, Pere  la  Chase,  f  had  been  trying  all  his  life  to 
accomplish.     He  was  an  intelligent  youth,  the  son  of 

*  Suint-Simon  and  Dangeau. 

f  Amongst  the  many  satires  and  epigrams  with  which  Louis  XtV. 
was  pursued  to  the  grave,  the  followiag  epitaph  may  be  given : — 

"  Ci  gist  le  mari  de  Therese 
De  la  Montespan  le  Mignon, 
L'esclave  de  la  Maintenon, 
Le  valet  du  pere  La  Chaise." 

At  the  death  of  Louis  XTV.,  Voltaire,  an  Sieve  of  the  Jesuits,  was 
appropriately  coming  into  notice.  At  the  age  of  about  twenty  he 
was  thrown  into  the  Bastille  for  having  written  a  satire  on  Louis 
XIV.,     f  which  the  ibllowin'^  is  an  extract :  — 


2o6  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Huguenot  parents  in  Yiverais,  of  comparatively  poor 
and  humble  condition.  He  was,  however,  full  of 
energy,  activity,  and  a  zealous  disposition  for  work. 
Observing  the  tendency  which  Protestantism  had, 
while  bereft  of  its  pastors,  to  run  into  gloomy  forms 
of  fanaticism,  Antoine  Court  conceived  the  idea  of  re- 
viving the  j)astorate,  and  restoring  the  proscribed 
Protestant  Church  of  France.  It  was  a  bold  idea, 
but  the  result  proved  that  Antoine  Court  was  justified 
in  entertaining  it. 

Louis  XIY.  died  in  August,  ITlu.  During  that  very 
month.  Court  summoned  together  a  small  number  of 
Huguenots  to  consider  his  suggestions.  The  meeting 
was  held  at  daybreak,  in  an  empty  quarry  near  Nismes, 
which  has  already  been  mentioned  in  the  course  of  this 
history.  But  it  may  here  be  necessary  to  inform  the 
reader  of  the  early  life  of  this  enthusiastic  young  man. 

Antoine  Court  was  born  at  Yilleneuve  de  Berg,  in 
Yiverais,  in  the  year  1696.  Pteligious  persecution  was 
then  at  its  height ;  assemblies  were  vigorously  put 
down ;  and  all  pastors  taken  prisoners  were  hanged  on 
the  Peyrou  at  Montpellicr.  Court  was  onlj^  four  years 
old  when  his  father  died,  and  his  mother  resolved,  if 
the  boy  lived,  to  train  him  up  so  that  he  might  conse- 
crate himself  to  the  service  of  God.      He  was  still  very 

"  J'ai  vii  sous  I'habit  d'une  femme 

Un  demon  nous  donner  la  loi ; 
Elle  saorifia  son  Dieu,  sa  foi,  son  ame. 
Pour  seduire  1' esprit  d'un  trop  credule  roi. 

«  «  «  4t  «  ♦ 

J'ai  vu  I'hypocrite  honore  : 
J'ni  vu,  c'est  dire  tout,  le  jesuite  adore : 

J'ai  vu  ces  maux  sous  le  jfegne  luneste 
D'un  prince  que  jadis  la  colere  celeste 
Accorda,  par  vengeance,  a  nos  desirs  ardens : 

J'ai  vu  ces  maux,  et  je  n'ai  pas  vingt  ans." 

Voltaire  denied  having  written  this  satire. 


ANTOINE  COURT.  207 

3'oung  \yliile  tlie  Camisard  war  was  in  progress,  but  he 
heard  a  great  deal  about  it,  and  yividly  remembered 
all  that  he  heard. 

Antoine  Court,  like  many  Protestant  children,  was 
compelled  to  attend  a  Jesuit  school  in  his  neighbour- 
hood. Though  but  a  boy  he  abhorred  the  Mass.  With 
Protestants  the  Mass  was  then  the  symbol  of  persecu- 
tion ;  it  was  identified  with  the  Eevocation  of  the  Edict 
— the  dragonnades,  the  galleys,  the  prisons,  the  nun- 
neries, the  monkeries,  and  the  Jesuits.  The  Mass  was 
not  a  matter  of  knowledge,  but  of  fear,  of  terror,  and 
of  hereditary  hatred. 

At  school,  the  other  boys  were  most  bitter  against 
Court,  because  he  was  the  son  of  a  Huguenot.  Every 
sort  of  mischief  was  practised  upon  him,  for  little  boys 
are  generally  among  the  greatest  of  persecutors. 
Court  was  stoned,  worried,  railed  at,  laughed  at,  spit 
at.  When  leaving  school,  the  boys  called  after  him 
''  He,  he  !  the  eldest  son  of  Calvin  !  "  They  sometimes 
pursued  him  with  clamour  and  volleys  of  stones  to  the 
door  of  his  house,  collecting  in  their  riotous  procession 
all  the  other  Catholic  boys  of  the  place.  Sometimes 
they  forced  him  into  church  whilst  the  Mass  was  being 
celebrated.  In  fact,  the  boy's  hatred  of  the  Mass  and 
of  Catholicism  grew  daily  more  and  more  vehement. 

All  these  persecutions,  together  with  reading  some  of 
the  books  which  came  under  his  notice  at  home,  con- 
firmed his  aversion  to  the  Jesuitical  school  to  which  he 
had  been  sent.  At  the  same  time  he  became  desirous 
of  attending  the  secret  assemblies,  which  he  knew 
were  being  held  in  the  neighbourhood.  One  day, 
when  his  mother  set  out  to  attend  one  of  them,  the 
boy  set  out  to  follow  her.  She  discovered  him,  and 
demanded   whither   he   was   going.      ''I   follow   you. 


2o8  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

mother,"  said  he,  "  and  I  wish  you  to  permit  me  to 
go  where  you  go.  I  know  that  you  go  to  pray  to 
God,  and  will  you  refuse  me  the  favour  of  going  to 
do  so  with  you  ?  " 

She  shed  tears  at  his  words,  told  him  of  the  dausrer 
of  attending  the  assembly,  and  strongly  exhorted  him 
to  secrecy  ;  but  she  allowed  him  to  accompany  her. 
He  was  at  that  time  too  little  and  weak  to  walk  the 
whole  way  to  the  meeting ;  but  other  worshippers  com- 
ing up,  they  took  the  boy  on  their  shoulders  and  carried 
him  along  with  them. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen.  Court  began  to  read  the 
Bible  at  the  assemblies.  One  day,  in  a  moment  of 
sudden  excitement,  common  enough  at  secret  meetings, 
he  undertook  to  address  the  assembly.  "What  he  said  was 
received  with  much  approval,  and  he  was  encouraged 
to  go  on  preaching.  He  soon  became  famous  among 
the  mountaineers,  and  was  regarded  as  a  young  man 
capable  of  accomplishing  great  things. 

As  he  grew  older,  he  at  length  determined  to  devote 
his  life  to  preaching  and  ministering  to  the  forsaken 
and  afflicted  Protestants.  It  was  a  noble,  self-denvinff 
work,  the  only  earthly  reward  for  which  was  labour, 
difficulty,  and  danger.  His  mother  was  in  great  trouble, 
for  Antoine  was  her  only  remaining  soji.  She  did  not, 
however,  press  him  to  change  his  resolution.  Court 
quoted  to  her  the  text,  ''AYhoever  loves  father  and 
mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  After 
this,  she  only  saw  in  her  son  a  victim  consecrated,  like 
another  Abraham,  to  the  Divine  service. 

After  arriving  at  his  decision.  Court  proceeded  to 
visit  the  Huguenots  in  Low  Languedoc,  passing  by 
Uzes  to  Nismes,  and  preaching  wherever  he  could 
draw  assemblies   of  the  people  together.     His  success 


ANTOINE  COURT.  209 

during  this  rapid  excursion  induced  him  to  visit  Dau- 
phiny.  There  he  met  Brunei,  another  preacher,  with 
knapsack  on  his  back,  running  from  place  to  place 
in  order  to  avoid  spies,  priests,  and  soldiers.  The  two 
were  equally  full  of  ardour,  and  they  went  together 
preaching  in  many  places,  and  duly  encouraging  each 
other. 

From  Dauphiny,  Court  directed  his  steps  to  Marseilles, 
where  the  royal  galleys  stationed  there  contained  about 
three  hundred  Huguenot  galley-slaves.  He  penetrated 
these  horrible  floating  prisons,  without  being  detected, 
and  even  contrived  to  organize  amongst  them  a  regular 
system  of  secret  worship.  Then  he  returned  to  Nismes, 
and  from  thence  went  through  the  Cevennes  and  the 
Viverais,  preaching  to  people  who  had  never  met  for 
Protestant  worship  since  the  termination  of  the  wars  of 
the  Camisards.  To  elude  the  spies,  who  began  to  make 
hot  search  for  him,  because  of  the  enthusiasm  which 
he  excited.  Court  contrived  to  be  always  on  the  move, 
and  to  appear  daily  in  some  fresh  locality. 

The  constant  fatigue  which  he  underwent  under- 
mined his  health,  and  he  was  compelled  to  remain  for 
a  time  inactive  at  the  mineral  waters  of  Euzet.  This  re- 
tirement proved  useful.  He  began  to  think  over  what 
might  be  done  to  revivify  the  Protestant  religion  in 
Prance.  Kemember  that  he  was  at  that  time  only 
nineteen  years  of  age  !  It  might  be  thought  pre- 
sumptuous in  a  youth,  comparatively  uninstructed,  even 
to  dream  of  such  a  subject.  The  instruments  of  earthly 
power — King,  Pope,  bishops,  priests,  soldiers,  and  spies 
— were  all  arrayed  against  him.  He  had  nothing  to 
oppose  to  them  but  truth,  uprightness,  conscience,  and 
indefatigable  zeal  for  labour. 

When  Court  had  last  met  the  few  Protestant  preachers 


210  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

wlio  survived  in  Languedoc,  tliey  were  very  undecided 
about  taking  up  liis  scheme.  They  had  met  at  Kismes 
to  take  the  sacrament  in  the  house  of  a  friend.  There 
were  Bombonnoux  (an  old  Camisard),  Crotte,  Corteiz, 
Brunei,  and  Court,  Without  coming  to  any  decision, 
they  separated,  some  going  to  Switzerland,  and  others 
to  the  South  and  West  of  France.  It  now  rested  with 
Court,  during  his  sickness,  to  study  and  endeavour  to 
arrange  the  method  of  reorganization  of  the  Church. 

The  Huguenots  who  remained  in  France  were  then 
divided  into  three  classes — the  "new  converts,"  who. 
professed  Catholicism  while  hating  it ;  the  lovers  of 
the  ancient  Protestant  faith,  who  still  clung  to  it ;  and, 
lastly,  the  more  ignorant,  who  still  clung  to  prophesying 
and  inspiration.  These  last  had  done  the  Protestant 
Church  much  inj  ur}^,  for  the  intelligent  classes  generally 
regarded  them  as  but  mere  fanatics. 

Court  found  it  would  be  requisite  to  keep  the  latter 
within  the  leading-strings  of  spiritual  instruction,  and 
to  encourage  the  ''new  converts"  to  return  to  the 
church  of  their  fathers  by  the  re-establishment  of  some 
efficient  pastoral  service.  lie  therefore  urged  that 
religious  assemblies  must  be  continued,  and  that  discip- 
line must  be  established  by  the  appointment  of  elders, 
presbyteries,  and  synods,  and  also  by  the  training  up 
of  a  body  of  young  pastors  to  preach  amongst  the  people, 
and  discipline  them  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
Protestant  Church.  Nearly  thirty  years  had  passed 
since  it  had  been  disorganized  by  the  Pevocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  so  that  synods,  presbyteries,  and  the 
training  of  preachers  had  become  almost  forgotten. 

The  first  synod  was  convened  by  Court,  and  held  in 
the  abandoned  quarry  near  Nismes,  above  referred  to, 
in  the  very  same  month  in  which  Louis  XI Y.  breathed 


ANTOINE  COURT.  211 

his  last.  It  was  a  very  small  beginning.  Two  or 
three  laymen  and  a  few  preachers  *  were  present,  the 
whole  meeting  numbering  only  nine  persons.  The  place 
in  which  the  meeting  was  held  had  often  before  beea 
used  as  a  secret  place  of  worship  by  the  Huguenots. 
Ileligious  meetings  held  there  had  often  been  dispersed 
by  the  dragoons,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  stone  in  it 
that  had  not  been  splashed  by  Huguenot  blood.  And 
now,  after  Protestantism  had  been  '^finally  suiDprcsed," 
Antoine  Court  assembled  his  first  synod  to  re-establish 
the  proscribed  religion ! 

The  first  meeting  took  place  on  the  21st  of  August, 
1715,  at  daybreak.  After  prayer.  Court,  as  moderator, 
explained  his  method  of  reorganization,  which  was 
approved.  The  first  elders  were  appointed  from  amongst 
those  present.  A  series  of  rules  and  regulations  was 
resolved  upon  and  ordered  to  be  spread  over  the  entire 
province.  The  preachers  were  then  charged  to  go 
forth,  to  stir  up  the  people  and  endeavour  to  bring  back 
the  "new  converts.'^ 

They  lost  no  time  in  carrying  out  their  mission. 
The  first  districts  in  which  they  were  appointed  to  work 
were  those  of  Mende,  Alais,  Yiviers,  Uzes,  Msmes, 
and  Montpellier,  in  Languedoc — districts  which,  fifteen 
years  before,  had  been  the  scenes  of  the  Camisard  war. 
There,  in  unknown  valleys,  on  hillsides,  on  the  moun- 
tains, in  the  midst  of  hostile  towns  and  villages,  the 
missionaries  sought  out  the  huts,  the  farms,  and  the 
dwellings  of  the  scattered,  concealed,  and  half- frightened 
Huguenots.  Amidst  the  open  threats  of  the  magistrates 
and  others  in  office,  and  the  fear  of  the  still  more  hateful 
priests  and  spies,  they  went  from  house  to  house,  and 

*  Edmund  Hughes  says  the  preachers  were  probably  Eoiiviere  (';r 
Crotte)>  Jean  Hue,  Jeau  A^esson,  Etienne  Arnaud,  and  Dorand. 

15 


212  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

prayed,  preadied,  advised,  and  endeavoured  to  awaken 
the  zeal  of  their  old  allies  of  the  "  Religion." 

The  preachers  were  for  the  most  part  poor,  and  some 
of  them  were  labouring  men.  They  were  mostly  natives 
of  Languedoc.  Jean  Ycsson,  a  cooper  by  trade,  had  in 
his  youth  been  "  inspired,"  and  prophesied  in  his 
ecstasy.  Mazelet,  now  an  elderly  man,  had  formerly 
been  celebrated  among  the  Camisards,  and  preached 
with  great  success  before  the  soldiers  of  Roland.  At 
forty  he  was  not  able  to  read  or  write ;  but  having  been 
forced  to  fly  into  Switzerland,  he  picked  up  some  edu- 
cation at  Geneva,  and  had  studied  divinity  under  a 
fellow-exile. 

Bombonnoux  had  been  a  brigadier  in  the  troop  of 
Cavalier.  After  his  chief's  defection  he  resolved  to 
continue  the  war  to  the  end,  by  preaching,  if  not  by 
fighting.  He  had  been  taken  j^risoner  and  imprisoned 
at  Montpellicr,  in  1705.  Two  of  his  Camisard  friends 
were  first  put  upon  the  rack,  and  then,  while  still 
living,  thrown  upon  a  pile  and  burnt  to  death  before 
his  eyes.  But  the  horrible  character  of  the  punish- 
ment did  not  terrify  him.  He  contrived  to  escape 
from  prison  at  Montpellicr,  and  then  went  about  con- 
voking assemblies  and  preaching  to  the  people  as 
before. 

Besides  these,  there  were  Hue,  Corteiz,  Durand, 
Arnaud,  Brunei,  and  Rouviere  or  Crotte,  who  all  went 
about  from  place  to  place,  convoking  assemblies  and 
preaching.  There  were  also  some  local  preachers,  as 
they  might  be  called — old  men  who  could  not  move 
far  from  home — who  worked  at  their  looms  or  trades, 
sometimes  tilling  the  ground  by  day,  and  preaching 
at  night.  Amongst  these  were  Monteil,  Guillct,  and 
Bonnard,  all  more  than  sixty  years  of  age. 


ANTOINE  COURT.  '  213 

Court,  because  of  his  youth  and  energy,  seems  to  have 
been  among  the  most  active  of  the  preachers.  One  day, 
near  St.  Hypolite,  a  chief  centre  of  the  Huguenot 
population,  he  convoked  an  assembly  on  a  mountain 
side,  the  largest  that  had  taken  place  for  many 
years.  The  priests  of  the  parish  gave  information  to 
the  authorities  ;  and  the  governor  of  Alais  offered  a  re- 
ward of  fifty  pistoles  to  anyone  who  would  apprehend 
and  deliver  up  to  him  the  young  preacher.  Troops 
were  sent  into  the  district ;  upon  which  Court  descended 
from  the  mountains  towards  the  towns  of  Low  Langue- 
doc,  and  shortly  after  he  arrived  at  Nismes. 

At  Nismes,  Court  first  met  Jacques  Roger,  who  after- 
wards proved  of  great  assistance  to  him  in  his  work. 
Roger  had  long  been  an  exile  in  Wurtemburg.  He 
was  originally  a  native  of  Boissieres,  in  Languedoc,  and 
when  a  young  man  was  compelled  to  quit  France  with 
his  parents,  who  were  Huguenots.  His  heart,  how- 
ever, continued  to  draw  him  towards  his  native  country, 
although  it  had  treated  himself  and  his  family  so 
cruelly. 

As  Roger  grew  older,  he  determined  to  return  to 
France,  with  the  object  of  helping  his  friends  of  the 
"Religion."  A  plan  had  occurred  to  him,  like  that 
which  Antoine  Court  w^as  now  endeavouring  to  carry 
into  effect.  The  joy  with  which  Roger  encountered 
Court  at  Nismes,  and  learnt  his  plans,  may  therefore  be 
conceived.  The  result  was,  that  Roger  undertook  to 
"awaken"  the  Protestants  of  Dauphiny,  and  to  en- 
deavour to  accomplish  there  what  Court  was  already 
gradually  effecting  in  Languedoc.  Roger  held  his  first 
synod  in  Dauphiny  in  August,  1716,  at  which  seven 
preachers  and  several  elders  or  anciens  assisted. 

In  the  meantime  Antoine  Court  again  set  out  to  ^^sit 


214  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

the  clmrclies  whicli  liad  been  reconstructed  along 
tlie  banks  of  the  Gardon.  He  bad  been  suffering 
from  intermittent  fever,  and  started  07i  bis  journey 
before  be  was  sufficiently  recovered.  Having  no  borse, 
be  walked  on  foot,  mostly  by  nigbt,  along  tbe  least 
known  by-patbs,  stopping  bere  and  tbere  upon  bis 
way.  At  lengtb  be  became  so  enfeebled  and  ill  as 
to  be  unable  to  walk  further.  He  tben  induced  two 
men  to  carry  bim.  By  crossing  tbeir  bands  over  eacb 
otber,  tbey  took  bim  up  between  tbem,  and  carried  bim 
along  on  tbis  improvised  cbair. 

Court  found  a  temporary  lodging  witb  a  friend.  But 
no  sooner  bad  be  laid  bimself  down  to  sleep,  tban  tbe 
alarm  was  raised  tbat  be  must  get  up  and  fly.  A 
spy  bad  been  observed  watching  the  bouse.  Court 
rose,  put  on  bis  clothes,  and  though  suffering  great 
pain,  started  afresh.  The  night  was  dark  and  rainy.  By 
turns  shivering  with  cold  and  in  an  access  of  fever,  be 
wandered  alone  for  hours  across  the  countrj^  towards  the 
house  of  another  friend,  where  be  at  last  found  shelter. 
Such  were  the  common  experiences  of  these  wandering, 
devoted,  proscribed,  and  heroic  ministers  of  tbe  Gospel. 

Their  labours  were  not  carried  on  without  encoun- 
tering other  and  greater  dangers.  JX^ow  tbat  the 
Protestants  were  becoming  organized,  it  was  not  so 
necessary  to  incite  them  to  public  worshij).  They  even 
required  to  be  restrained,  so  that  they  might  not  too 
suddenly  awaken  the  suspicion  or  excite  tbe  opjDosition 
of  the  authorities.  Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  1717,  the 
preacher  Yesson  held  an  open  assembly  near  Anduze. 
It  was  surprised  by  the  troops ;  and  seventy- two 
persons  made  prisoners,  of  whom  the  men  were  sent  to 
the  galleys  for  life,  and  the  women  imprisoned  in  the. 
Tour  de  Constance.     Yesson  was  on  this  occasion  re- 


ANTOINE  COURT,  215 

primandecl    by   the    synod,    for   having    exposed    his 
brethren  to  unnecessary  danger. 

AYhile  there  was  the  danger  of  loss  of  liberty  to  the 
people,  there  was  the  danger  of  loss  of  life  to  the 
pastors  who  were  bold  enough  to  minister  to  their  re- 
ligious necessities.  Etienne  Arnaud  having  preached 
to  an  assembly  near  Alais,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
soldiers.  They  took  him  to  Montpellier,  where  he  was 
judged,  condemned,  and  sent  back  to  Alais  to  be 
hanged.  This  brave  young  man  gave  up  his  life  with 
great  courage  and  resignation.  His  death  caused  much 
sorrow  amongst  the  Protestants,  but  it  had  no  effect  in 
dissuading  the  preachers  and  pastors  from  the  work 
they  had  taken  in  hand.  There  were  many  to  take 
the  place  of  Arnaud.  Young  Betrine  offered  himself  to 
the  synod,  and  was  accepted. 

Scripture  readers  were  also  appointed,  to  read  the 
Eible  at  meetings  which  preachers  were  not  able  to 
attend.  There  was,  however,  a  great  want  of  Bibles 
amongst  the  Protestants.  One  of  the  first  things  done 
by  the  young  King  Louis  XY.— the  "  Well-beloved  " 
of  the  Jesuits — on  his  ascending  the  throne,  was  to 
issue  a  proclamation  ordering  the  seizure  of  Bibles, 
Testaments,  Psalm-books,  and  other  religious  works 
used  by  the  Protestants.  And  though  so  many  books 
had  already  been  seized  and  burnt  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIY.,  immense  piles  were  again  collected  and 
given  to  the  flames  by  the  executioners. 

''  Our  need  of  books  is  very  great,"  wrote  Court  to  a 
friend  abroad ;  and  the  same  statement  was  repeated  in 
many  of  his  letters.  His  principal  need  was  of  Bibles 
and  Testaments  ;  for  every  Huguenot  knew  the  greater 
part  of  the  Psalms  by  heart.  When  a  Testament 
was   obtained,    it  was  lent   about,    and   for   the   most 


2i6  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

part  learnt  off.  Tlie  labour  was  divided  in  this 
way.  One  person,  sometimes  a  boy  or  girl,  of  good 
memory,  would  undertake  to  learn  one  or  more  chap- 
ters in  the  Gospels,  another  a  certain  number  in 
the  Epistles,  until  at  last  a  large  portion  of  the  book 
was  committed  to  memory,  and  could  be  recited  at 
the  meetings  of  the  assemblies.  And  thus  also  it 
happened,  that  the  conversation  of  the  people,  as 
well  as  the  sermons  of  their  preachers,  gradually 
assumed  a  strongly  biblical  form. 

Strong  appeals  were  made  to  foreign  Protestants  to 
supply  the  people  with  books.  The  refugees  who  had 
settled  in  Switzerland,  Holland,  and  England  sent  the 
Huguenots  remaining  in  France  considerable  help  in 
this  way.  They  sent  many  Testaments  and  Psalm-books, 
together  with  catechisms  for  the  young,  and  many  de- 
votional works  written  by  French  divines  residing  in 
Holland  and  England — by  Drelincourt,  Saurin,  Claude 
and  others.  These  were  sent  safely  across  the  frontier 
in  bales,  put  into  the  hands  of  colporteurs,  and  circu- 
lated amongst  the  Protestants  all  over  the  South  of 
France.  The  printing  press  of  Geneva  was  also  put 
in  requisition ;  and  Court  had  many  of  his  sermons 
j)rinted  there  and  distributed  amongst  the  people. 

Until  this  time.  Court  had  merely  acted  as  a 
preacher ;  and  it  was  now  determined  to  ordain  and 
consecrate  him  as  a  pastor.  The  ceremony,  though 
comparatively  unceremonious,  was  very  touching.  A 
larore  number  of  Protestants  in  the  Yaunao^e  assembled 
on  the  night  of  the  21st  Kovember,  1718,  and,  after 
prayer.  Court  rose  and  spoke  for  some  time  of  the 
responsible  duties  of  the  ministry,  and  of  the  necessity 
and  advantages  of  preaching.  He  thanked  God  for 
having  xaised  up  ministers  to  serve  the  Church  when 


ANTOINE  COURT,  217 

so  many  of  her  enemies  were  seeking  for  her  ruin. 
He  finally  asked  the  whole  assembly  to  pray  for  grace 
to  enable  him  to  fulfil  with  renewed  zeal  the  duties  to 
which  he  was  about  to  be  called,  together  with  all  the 
virtues  needed  for  success.  At  these  touching  words 
the  assembled  hearers  shed  tears.  Then  Corteiz,  the 
old  pastor,  drew  near  to  Court,  now  upon  his  knees, 
and  placing  a  Bible  upon  his  head,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  with  the  authority  of  the  synod, 
gave  him  power  to  exercise  all  the  functions  of  thef 
ministry.  Cries  of  joy  av ere  heard  on  all  sides.  Then, 
after  further  prayer,  the  assembly  broke  up  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night. 

The  plague  which  broke  out  in  1720  helped  the 
progress  of  the  new  Church.  The  Protestants  thought 
the  plague  had  been  sent  as  a  punishment  for  their 
backsliding.  Piety  increased,  and  assemblies  in  the 
Desert  were  more  largely  attended  than  before.  The 
intendants  ceased  to  interfere  with  them,  and  the 
soldiers  were  kept  strictly  within  their  cantonments. 
More  preachers  were  licensed,  and  more  elders  were 
elected.  Many  new  churches  were  set  up  through- 
out Languedoc ;  and  the  department  of  the  Lozere, 
in  the  Cevennes,  became  again  almost  entirely  Pro- 
testant. Roger  and  Yilleveyre  were  almost  equally 
successful  in  Dauphiny ;  and  Saintonge,  Normandy, 
and  Poitou  were  also  l3eginning  to  maintain  a  connec- 
tion with  the  Protestant  churches  of  Languedoc. 


APTEE  XL 

KEORGANIZATIOX    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    DESERT. 

n^HE  organization  of  the  Cliiircli  in  tlie  Desert  is  one 
-■-  of  the  most  curious  things  in  history.  Secret 
meetings  of  the  Huguenots  had  long  been  held  in 
France.  They  were  began  several  years  before  the 
Act  of  Kevocation  Avas  proclaimed,  when  the  dragon- 
nades  were  on  foot,  and  while  the  Protestant  temples 
were  being  demolished  by  the  Government.  The 
Huguenots  then  arranged  to  meet  and  hold  their 
worship  in  retired  places. 

As  the  meetings  were  at  first  held,  for  the  most  part, 
in  Languedoc,  and  as  much  of  that  province,  especially 
in  the  district  of  the  Cevennes,  is  really  waste  and 
desert  land,  the  meetings  were  at  first  called  "  Assem- 
blies in  the  Desert,"  and  for  nearly  a  hundred  years 
they  retained  that  name. 

When  Court  began  to  roorganize  the  Protestant 
Church  in  Erance,  shortly  after  the  Camisard  war, 
meetings  in  the  Desert  had  become  almost  unknown. 
There  were  occasional  prayer-meetings,  at  which  chapters 
of  the  Bible  were  read  or  recited  by  those  Avho  re- 
membered them,  and  psalms  were  sung  ;  but  there  were 
few  or  no  meetings  at  which  pastors  presded.  Court, 
however,  resolved  not  only  to  revive  the  meetings  of 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  219 

the  Cliurcli  in  tlie  Desert,  but  to  reconstitute  tlie  con- 
gregations, and  restore  the  system  of  gOYcrning  them 
according  to  the  methods  of  the  Huguenot  Church. 

The  first  thing  done  in  reconstituting  a  congrega- 
tion, was  to  appoint  certain  well-known  religious  men, 
as  ancicns,  or  elders.  These  were  very  important 
officers.  They  formed  the  church  in  the  first  instance  ; 
for  where  there  were  no  elders,  there  was  no  church. 
They  were  members  of  the  considoire  or  presbytery. 
They  looked  after  the  flock,  visited  them  in  their 
families,  made  collections,  named  the  pastors,  and 
maintained  peace,  order,  and  discipline  amongst  the 
people.  Though  first  nominated  by  the  pastors,  they 
were  elected  by  the  congregation ;  and  the  reason  for 
their  election  was  their  known  ability,  zeal,  and  piety. 

The  elder  was  always  present  at  the  assemblies, 
though  the  minister  was  absent.  He  prevented  the 
members  from  succumbing  to  temptation  and  falling 
away ;  he  censured  scandal ;  he  kept  up  the  flame  of 
religious  zeal,  and  encouraged  the  failing  and  helpless ; 
he  distributed,  amongst  the  poorest  the  collections 
made  and  intrusted  to  him  by  the  Church. 

"VVe  have  said  that  part  of  the  duty  of  the  elders  was 
to  censure  scandal  amongst  the  members.  If  their 
conduct  was  not  considered  becoming  the  Christian  life, 
they  were  not  visited  by  the  pastors  and  were  not 
allowed  to  attend  the  assemblies,  until  they  had  declared 
their  determination  to  lead  a  better  life.  AYhat  a 
punishment  for  infraction  of  discipline !  to  be  de- 
barred attending  an  assembly,  for  being  present  at 
which,  the  pastor,  if  detected,  might  be  hanged,  and  the 
penitent  member  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life  1* 

The  elders  summoned  the  assemblies.      They  gave 

*  C.  Coquerel,  "Eglise  du  Desert,"  i.  105. 


2  20  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

tlie  word  to  a  few  friends,  and  tliese  spread  the  notice 
about  amongst  tlie  rest.  The  news  soon  became 
known,  and  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two,  the  members 
of  the  congregation,  though  living  perhaps  in  distant 
villages,  would  be  duly  informed  of  the  time  and  place 
of  the  intended  meeting.  It  was  usually  held  at  night, 
— in  some  secret  place — in  a  cave,  a  hollow  in  the 
woods,  a  ravine,  or  an  abandoned  farmstead. 

Men,  women,  and  even  children  were  taken  thither, 
after  one,  two,  or  sometimes  three  leagues'  walking. 
The  meetings  were  alwaj^s  fidl  of  danger,  for  spies 
were  lurking  about.  Catholic  priests  were  con- 
stant informers ;  and  soldiers  were  never  far  distant. 
But  besides  the  difficidties  of  spies  and  soldiers,  the 
meetings  were  often  dispersed  by  the  rain  in  summer, 
or  by  the  snow  in  winter. 

After  the  Camisard  war,  and  before  the  appear- 
ance of  Court,  these  meetings  rarely  numbered  more 
than  a  hundred  persons.  But  Court  and  his  fellow- 
pastors  often  held  meetings  at  which  more  than  two 
thousand  people  were  present.  On  one  occasion,  not 
less  than  four  thousand  persons  attended  an  assembly  in 
Lower  Languedoc. 

When  the  meetings  were  held  by  day,  they  were 
carefully  guarded  and  watched  by  sentinels  on  the 
look-out,  especially  in  those  places  near  which  garrisons 
were  stationed.  The  fleetest  of  the  young  men  were 
chosen  for  this  purpose.  They  watched  the  garrison 
exits,  and  when  the  soldiers  made  a  sortie,  the  sentinels 
communicated  by  signal  from  hill  to  hill,  thus  giving 
warning  to  the  meeting  to  disperse.  But  the  assemblies 
were  mostly  held  at  night ;  and  even  then  the  sentinels 
were  carefully  posted  about,  but  not  at  so  great  a 
distance. 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.   221 

The  chief  of  the  whole  organization  was  the  pastor. 
First,  there  were  the  members  entitled  to  church 
privileges ;  next  the  anciens ;  and  lastly  the  pastors. 
As  in  Presbyterianism,  so  in  Huguenot  Calvinism, 
its  form  of  government  was  republican.  The  organiza- 
tion was  based  upon  the  people  who  elected  their 
elders ;  then  upon  the  elders  who  selected  and  recom- 
mended the  pastors ;  and  lastly  upon  the  whole  con- 
gregation of  members,  elders,  and  pastors  (represented 
in  synods),  who  maintained  the  entire  organization  of 
the  Church. 

There  were  three  grades  of  service  in  the  rank  of 
pastor — first  students,  next  preachers,  and  lastly 
pastors.  TVonderful  that  there  should  have  been 
students  of  a  profession,  to  follow  which  was  almost 
equal  to  a  sentence  of  death  !  But  there  were  plenty 
of  young  enthusiasts  ready  to  brave  martyrdom  in  the 
service  of  the  proscribed  Church.  Sometimes  it  was 
even  necessary  to  restrain  them  in  their  applications. 

Court  once  wrote  to  Pierre  Durand,  at  a  time  when 
the  latter  was  restoring  order  and  organization  in 
Yiverais  :  "  Sound  and  examine  well  the  persons  offer- 
ing themselves  for  your  approval,  before  permitting 
them  to  enter  on  this  glorious  employment.  Secure 
good,  vii'tuous  men,  full  of  zaal  for  the  cause  of  truth. 
It  is  piety  only  that  inspires  nobility  and  greatness  of 
soul.  Piety  sustains  us  under  the  most  extreme 
dangers,  and  triumphs  over  the  severest  obstacles. 
The  fjood  conscience  alwavs  marches  forward  with  its 
head  erect." 

AVhen  the  character  of  the  3'oung  applicants  was 
approved,  their  studies  then  proceeded,  like  everything 
else  connected  with  the  proscribed  religion,  in  secret. 
The  students  followed  the  professor  and  pastor  in  his 


222  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

wanderings  over  the  country,  passing  long  nights  in 
marcliing,  sometimes  hiding  in  caves  by  day,  or  sleep- 
ing under  the  stars  by  night,  passing  from  meeting 
to  meeting,  always  with  death  looming  before  them. 

"I  have  often  pitched  my  professor's  chair,"  said 
Court,  ''in  a  torrent  underneath  a  rock.  The  sky 
was  our  roof,  and  the  leafy  branches  thrown  out  from 
the  crevices  in  the  rock  overhead,  were  our  canopy. 
There  I  and  my  students  would  remain  for  about  eight 
days ;  it  was  our  hall,  our  lecture-room,  and  our  study. 
To  make  the  most  of  our  time,  and  to  practise  the 
students  properly,  I  gave  them  a  text  of  Scripture  to 
discuss  before  me — say  the  first  eleven  verses  of  the 
fifth  chapter  of  Luke.  I  would  afterwards  propose  to 
them  some  point  of  doctrine,  some  passage  of  Scripture, 
some  moral  precept,  or  sometimes  I  gave  them  some 
difficult  passages  to  reconcile.  After  the  whole  had 
stated  their  views  u2)on  the  question  under  discussion,  I 
asked  the  j^oungest  if  he  had  anything  to  state  against 
the  arguments  advanced ;  then  the  others  were  asked 
in  turn  ;  and  after  they  had  finished,  I  stated  the  views 
which  I  considered  most  just  and  correct.  When  the 
more  advanced  students  Were  required  to  preach,  they 
mounted  a  particular  place,  wiiere  a  pole  had  been  set 
across  some  rocks  in  the  ravine,  and  which  for  the  time 
served  for  a  pulpit.  And  when  they  had  delivered  them- 
selves, the  others  were  requested  by  turns  to  exj^ress 
themselves  freely  upon  the  subject  of  the  sermon  which 
they  had  heard." 

When  the  proi^osant  or  probationer  was  considered 
sufficiently  able  to  preach,  he  was  sent  on  a  mission 
to  visit  the  churches.  Sometimes  he  preached  the 
approved  sermons  of  other  pastors ;  sometimes  he 
preached  his  own  sermons,  after  they  had    been  ex- 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  223 

amined  by  persons  appointed  by  the  synod.  After 
a  time,  if  approved  by  tlie  moderator  and  a  committee 
of  the  synod,  the  propomnt  was  licensed  to  preach. 
His  work  then  resembled  that  of  a  pastor ;  but  he 
could  not  yet  administer  the  sacrament.  It  was  only 
when  he  had  passed  the  synod,  and  been  appointed  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands,  that  he  could  exercise  the  higher 
pastoral  functions. 

Then,  with  respect  to  the  maintenance  of  the  pastors 
and  preachers.  Court  recounts,  not  without  pride,  that 
for  the  ten  years  between  1713  and  1723  (excepting 
the  years  which  he  spent  at  Geneva),  he  served  the 
Huguenot  churches  without  receiving  a  farthing.  His 
family  and  friends  saw  to  the  supply  of  his  private 
wants.  With  respect  to  the  others,  they  were  sup- 
ported by  collections  made  at  the  assemblies ;  and,  as 
the  people  were  nearly  all  poor,  the  amount  collected 
was  very  small.  On  one  occasion,  three  assemblies 
produced  a  halfpenny  and  six  half-farthings. 

But  a  regular  system  of  collecting  moneys  was  framed 
by  the  synods  (consisting  of  a  meeting  of  pastors  and 
elders),  and  out  of  the  common  fund  so  raised,  emolu- 
ments were  assigned,  first  to  those  preachers  who  were 
married,  and  afterwards  to  those  who  were  single.  In 
either  case  the  pay  was  very  small,  scarcely  sufiicient 
to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door. 

The  students  for  the  ministry  were  at  first  educated 
by  Court  and  trained  to  j)reach,  while  he  was  on  his 
dangerous  journeys  from  one  assembly  in  the  Desert  to 
another.  Nor  was  the  supply  of  preachers  sufiicient  to 
visit  the  congregations  already  organized.  Court  had 
long  determined,  so  soon  as  the  opportunity  offered,  of 
starting  a  school  for  the  special  education  of  preachers 
and  pastors,  so  that  the  work  he  was  engaged  in  might 


2  24  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

be  more  efficiently  carried  on.  He  at  first  corresponded 
with  influential  French  refugees  in  England  and 
Holland  with  reference  to  the  subject.  He  wrote  to 
Basnage  and  Saurin,  but  they  received  his  propositions 
coolly.  He  wrote  to  William  AVake,  then  Archbishop 
of  Canterbur}^,  who  promised  his  assistance.  At  last 
Court  resolved  to  proceed  into  Switzerland,  to  stir  up  the 
French  refugees  disposed  to  help  him  in  his  labours. 

Arrived  at  Geneva,  Court  sought  out  M.  Pictet,  to 
whom  he  explained  the  state  of  aflairs  in  France.  It 
had  been  rumoured  amongst  the  foreign  Protestants 
that  fanaticism  and  *' inspiration "  were  now  in  the 
ascendant  among  the  Protestants  of  France.  Court 
showed  that  this  was  entirely  a  mistake,  and  that  all 
which  the  proscribed  Huguenots  in  France  wanted, 
was  a  supply  of  properly  educated  pastors.  The  friends 
of  true  religion,  and  the  enemies  of  fanaticism,  ought 
therefore  to  come  to  their  help  and  supply  them  with 
that  of  which  they  stood  most  in  need.  If  they  would 
find  teachers,  Court  would  undertake  to  supply  them 
with  congregations.  And  Huguenot  congregations  were 
rapidly  increasing,  not  only  in  Languedoc  and  Dau- 
phiny,  but  in  Normand}^,  Picardy,  Poitou,  Saintonge, 
Beam,  and  the  other  provinces. 

At  length  the  subject  became  matured.  It  was  not 
found  desirable  to  establish  the  proposed  school  at 
Geneva,  that  city  being  closely  watched  by  France,  and 
frequently  under  the  censure  of  its  government  for 
giving  shelter  to  refugee  Frenchmen.  It  was  even- 
tually determined  that  the  college  for  the  education  of 
preachers  should  begin  at  Lausanne.  It  was  accordingly 
commenced  in  the  year  1726,  and  established  under  the 
superintendence  of  M.  Duplan. 

A  committee  of  refugees  called  the  ''  Society  of  Help 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  225 

for  tlie  Afflicted  Faitliful,"  was  formed  at  Lausanne  to 
collect  subscriptions  for  tlie  maintenance  of  tlie  preachers, 
the  pastors,  and  the  seminary.  These  were  in  the  iirst 
place  received  from  Huguenots  settled  in  Switzerland, 
afterwards  increased  by  subscriptions  obtained  from 
refugees  settled  in  Holland,  Germany,  and  England. 
The  King  of  England  subscribed  five  hundred  guineas 
yearly.  Duplan  was  an  indefatigable  agent.  In 
fourteen  years  he  collected  fourteen  thousand  pounds. 
By  these  efibrts  the  number  of  students  was  gradually 
increased.  They  came  from  all  parts  of  France,  but 
chiefly  from  Languedoc.  Between  1726  (the  year  in 
which  it  was  started)  and  1753,  ninety  students  had 
passed  through  the  seminary. 

When  the  students  had  passed  the  range  of  study 
appointed  by  the  professors,  they  returned  from  Swit- 
zerland to  France  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  their 
lives.  They  had  passed  the  school  for  martyrdom, 
and  were  ready  to  j)reach  to  the  assemblies — they 
had  paired  their  way  to  the  scafibld  ! 

The  preachers  always  went  abroad  with  their  lives  in 
their  hands.  They  travelled  mostly  by  night,  shunning 
the  open  highways,  and  selecting  abandoned  routes,  often 
sheep-joaths  across  the  hills,  to  reach  the  scene  of 
their  next  meeting.  The  trace  of  their  steps  is  still 
marked  upon  the  soil  of  the  Cevennes,  the  people  of  the 
country  still  speaking  of  the  solitary  routes  taken  by 
their  instructors  when  passing  from  parish  to  parish, 
to  preach  to  their  fathers. 

They  were  dressed,  for  disguise,  in  various  ways ; 
sometimes  as  peasants,  as  workmen,  or  as  shepherds. 
On  one  occasion.  Court  and  Duplan  travelled  the 
country  disguised  as  officers  !  The  police  heard 
of  it,    and   ordered  their    immediate    arrest,  pointing 


2  26  THE  HUGUENOTS 

out  tlie  town  and  tlie  very  house  wliere  tliey  were  to 
be  taken.  But  the  j)reacliers  escaped,  and  assumed 
a  new  dress. 

When  living  near  Nismes,  Court  was  one  day  seated 
under  a  tree  composing  a  sermon,  w^hen  a  party  of 
soldiers,  hearing  that  he  was  in  the  neighbourhood, 
came  within  sight.  Court  climbed  up  into  the  tree, 
where  he  remained  concealed  among  the  branches,  and 
thus  contrived  to  escape  their  search. 

On  another  occasion,  he  was  staying  wath  a  friend, 
in  wiiose  house  he  had  slept  during  the  previous 
night.  A  detachment  of  troops  suddenly  surrounded 
the  house,  and  the  officer  knocked  loudly  at  the 
door.  Court  made  his  friend  go  at  once  to  bed  pre- 
tending to  be  ill,  while  he  himself  cowered  down  in 
the  narrow  space  between  the  bed  and  the  w^all.  His 
wife  slowly  answ^ered  the  door,  which  the  soldiers 
were  threatening  to  blow  open.  They  entered,  rum- 
maged the  house,  opened  all  the  chests  and  closets, 
sounded  the  walls,  examined  the  sick  man's  room,  and 
found  nothing  ! 

Court  himself,  as  well  as  the  other  pastors,  worked 
very  hard.  On  one  occasion.  Court  made  a  round  of 
visits  in  Lower  Languedoc  and  in  the  Cevennes,  at 
first  alone,  and  afterwards  accompanied  by  a  young 
preacher.  In  the  space  of  two  months  and  a  few  days 
he  visited  thirty-one  churches,  holding  assemblies, 
preaching,  and  administering  the  sacrament,  during 
which  he  travelled  over  three  hundred  miles.  The 
weather  did  not  matter  to  the  pastors — rain  nor  snow, 
wind  nor  storm,  never  hindered  them.  They  took  the 
road  and  braved  all.  Even  sickness  often  failed  to  stay 
them.  Sickness  might  weaken  but  did  not  overthrow 
them. 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.   227 

Tlie  spies  and  police  so  abounded  througtiout  the 
country,  and  were  so  active,  that  they  knew  all  the 
houses  in  which  the  j^reachers  might  take  refuge.  A 
list  of  these  was  prepared  and  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  intendant  of  the  province.*  If  preachers  were 
found  in  them,  both  the  shelterers  and  the  sheltered 
knew  what  they  had  to  expect.  The  whole  property 
and  goods  of  the  former  were  confiscated  and  they 
were  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life ;  and  the  latter  were 
first  tortured  by  the  rack,  and  then  hanged.  The 
houses  in  which  preachers  were  found  were  almost 
invariably  burnt  down. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  secrecy  with  which  the 
whole  organization  proceeded,  j)reachers  were  fre- 
quently ap23rehended,  assemblies  were  often  surprised, 
and  many  persons  were  imprisoned  and  sent  to  the 
galleys  for  life.  Each  village  had  its  chief  spy — the 
priest :  and  beneath  the  priest  there  were  a  number  of 
other  spies — spies  for  money,  spies  for  cruelty,  spies  for 
revenge. 

Was  an  assembl}^  of  Huguenots  about  to  be  held  P 
A  sp3^,  perhaps  a  traitor,  would  make  it  known.  The 
priest's  order  was  sufficient  for  the  captain  of  the 
nearest  troop  of  soldiers  to  proceed  to  disperse  it.  They 
marched  and  surrounded  the  assembly.  A  sound  of 
volley-firing  was  heard.  The  soldiers  shot  down, 
hanged,  or  made  prisoners  of  the  unlawful  worshippers. 
Punishments  were  sudden,  and  inquiry  was  never  made 
into  them,  however  brutal.  There  was  the  fire  for 
Bibles,  Testaments,  and  psalm-books  ;  galleys  for  men  ; 
prisons  and  convents  for  women ;  and  gibbets  for 
preachers. 

*  It  has  since  been  published  in  the  "  Eulletin  de  la  Societe  du 
Protestantisme  Frangiise." 

16 


228  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

In  1720  a  large  number  of  prisoners  were  captured 
in  the  famous  old  quarry  near  Kismes,  long  the  seat  of 
secret  Protestant  worship.  But  the  troops  surrounded 
the  meeting  suddenly,  and  the  whole  were  taken.  The 
women  were  sent  for  life  to  the  Tour  de  Constance,  and 
the  men,  chained  in  gangs,  were  sent  all  through  France 
to  La  Eochelle,  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  galleys  there. 
The  ambassador  of  England  made  intercession  for  the 
prisoners,  and  their  sentence  was  commuted  into  one  of 
perpetual  banishment  from  France.  They  were  accord- 
ingly transported  to  New  Orleans  on  the  Mississippi, 
to  populate  the  rising  French  colony  in  that  quarter  of 
]S^orth  America. 

Thus  crimes  abounded,  and  cruelty  when  practised 
upon  Huguenots  was  never  investigated.  The  seizure 
and  violation  of  women  was  common.  Fathers  knew 
the  probable  consequence  when  their  daughters  were 
seized.  The  daughter  of  a  Huguenot  was  seized  at 
Uzes,  in  1733,  when  the  father  immediately  died  of 
grief.  Two  sisters  were  seized  at  the  same  place  to  be 
"  converted,"  and  their  immediate  relations  were  thrown 
into  gaol  in  the  meantime.  This  was  a  common  pro- 
ceeding. The  Tour  de  Constance  was  always  filling, 
and  kept  full. 

The  dying  were  tortui'ed  If  they  refused  the 
viaticum  they  were  treated  as  "  damned  persons." 
When  Jean  de  Molenes  of  Cahors  died,  making  a  pro- 
fession of  Protestantism,  his  body  was  denounced  as 
damned,  and  it  was  abandoned  without  sepulture.  A 
woman  who  addressed  some  words  of  consolation  to 
Joseph  Martin  when  dying  was  condemned  to  pay  a 
fine  of  six  thousand  livres,  and  be  imprisoned  in  the 
castle  of  Beauregard  ;  and  as  for  Martin,  his  memory 
was  declared  to  be  damned  for  ever.     Many  such  out- 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.   229 

rages  to  the  living  and  dead  were  constantly  occurring.* 
Gaolers  were  accustomed  to  earn  money  by  exhibiting 
tbe  corpses  of  Huguenot  women  at  fairs,  inviting  those 
wbo  paid  for  admission,  to  walk  up  and  '■'■  see  tbe  corpse 
of  a  damned  person."  f 

Notwithstanding  all  these  cruelties,  Protestantism  was 
making  considerable  progress,  both  in  Languedoc  and 
Dauphiny.  In  reorganizing  the  Church,  the  whole 
country  had  been  divided  into  districts,  and  preachers 
and  pastors  endeavoured  to  visit  the  whole  of  their 
members  with  as  mach  regularity  as  possible.  Thus 
Languedoc  was  divided  into  seven  districts,  and  to  each 
of  those  a  proposant  or  probationary  preacher  was  ap- 
pointed. The  presbyteries  and  synods  met  regularly 
and  secretly  in  a  cave,  or  the  hollow  bed  of  a  river,  or 
among  the  mountains.  They  cheered  each  other  up, 
though  their  progress  was  usually  over  the  bodies  of 
their  dead  friends. 

For  any  pastor  or  preacher  to  be  apprehended,  was, 
of  course,  certain  death.  Thus,  out  of  thirteen 
Huguenots  who  were  found  worshipping  in  a  private 
apartment  at  Montpellier,  in  1723,  Yesson,  the  pastor, 
and  Bonicel  and  Antoine  Comte,  his  assistants,  were  at 
once  condemned  and  hanged  on  the  Peyrou,  the  other 
ten  persons  being  imprisoned  or  sent  to  the  galleys  for 
life. 

Shortly  after.  Hue,  the  aged  pastor,  was  taken 
prisoner  in  the  Cevennes,  brought  to  Montpellier,  and 
hanged  in  the  same  place.  •  A  reward  of  a  thousand 
livres  was  offered  by  Bernage,  the  intendant,  for  the 
heads  of  the  remaining  preachers,   the   fatal  list  com- 

*  Edmund  Hughes,  *'  Histoire  de  la  ilestuaration  du  Protestant- 
isme  en  France."  ii.  91. 

t  Benoit,  "  Edit  de  Nantes,"  v.  987. 


230  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

prising  the  names  of  Court,  Cortez,  Durand,  Rouviere, 
Bombonnoux,  and  others.  The  names  of  these  "  others" 
were  not  mentioned,  not  being  yet  thought  worthy  of 
the  c^ibbet. 

'  And  yet  it  was  at  this  time  that  the  Bishop  of  Alais 
made  an  appeal  to  the  government  against  the  tolera- 
tion shown  to  the  Huguenots  !  In  1723,  he  sent  a  long 
memorial  to  Paris,  alleging  that  Catholicism  was  suffer- 
ing a  serious  injury  ;  that  not  only  had  the  "  new  con- 
verts '^  withdrawn  themselves  from  the  Catholic  Church, 
but  that  the  old  Catholics  themselves  were  resort- 
ing to  the  Huguenot  assemblies  ;  that  sometimes  their 
meetings  numbered  from  three  to  four  thousand  per- 
sons ;  that  their  psalms  were  sometimes  overheard  in 
the  surrounding  tillages ;  that  the  churches  were 
becoming  deserted,  the  cures  in  some  parishes  not 
being  able  to  find  a  single  Catholic  to  serve  at  Mass; 
that  the  Protestants  had  ceased  to  send  their  children 
to  school,  and  were  baptized  and  married  without  the 
intervention  of  the  Church. 

In  consequence  of  these  representations,  the  then 
Pegent,  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  sent  down  an  urgent 
order  to  the  authorities  to  carry  out  the  law — to 
l^revent  meetings,  under  penalty  of  death  to  preachers, 
and  imprisonment  at  the  galleys  to  all  who  attended 
them,  ordering  that  the  people  should  be  forced  to  go 
to  church  and  the  children  to  school,  and  reviving 
generally  the  severe  laws  against  Protestantism  issued 
by  Louis  XIY.  The  result  was  that  many  of  the 
assemblies  were  shortly  after  attacked  and  dispersed, 
many  persons  were  made  prisoners  and  sent  to  the 
galleys,  and  many  more  preachers  were  apprehended, 
racked,  and  hanged. 

Repeated  attempts  were  made  to  apprehend  Antoine 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH,   i^i 

Court,  as  being  tlie  soul  of  tlie  renewed  Protestant 
organization.  A  heavy  reward  was  offered  for  Ms 
head.  The  spies  and  police  hunted  after  him  in  all 
directions.  Houses  where  he  was  supposed  to  be  con- 
cealed were  surrounded  by  soldiers  at  night,  and  every 
hole  and  corner  in  them  ransacked.  Three  houses  were 
searched  in  one  night.  Court  sometimes  escaped  with 
great  difficult3^  On  one  occasion  he  remained  con- 
cealed for  more  than  twenty  hours  under  a  heap  of 
manure.  His  friends  endeavoured  to  persuade  him  to 
leave  the  country  until  the  activity  of  the  search  for 
him  had  passed. 

Since  the  year  1722,  Court  had  undertaken  new 
responsibilities.  He  had  become  married,  and  was 
now  the  father  of  three  children.  He  had  married  a 
young  Huguenot  woman  of  Uzes.  He  first  met  her  in 
her  father's  house,  while  he  was  in  hiding  from  the 
spies.  While  he  was  engaged  in  his  pastoral  work  his 
wife  and  family  continued  to  live  at  Uzes.  Court  was 
never  seen  in  her  company,  but  could  only  visit  his 
family  secretly.  The  woman  was  known  to  be  of 
estimable  character,  but  it  gave  rise  to  suspicions 
that  she  had  three  children  without  a  known  father. 
The  spies  were  endeavouring  to  unravel  the  secret, 
tempted  by  the  heavy  reward  offered  for  Court's  head. 

One  day  the  new  commandant  of  the  town,  passing 
before  the  door  of  the  house  where  Court's  wife  lived, 
stopped,  and,  pointing  to  the  house,  put  some  questions 
to  the  neighbours.  Court  was  informed  of  this,  and 
immediately  supposed  that  his  house  had  become 
known,  that  his  wife  and  family  had  been  discovered 
and  would  be  apprehended.  He  at  once  made  arrange- 
ments for  having  them  removed  to  Geneva.  They 
reached  that  city  in  safety,  in  the  month  of  April,  1729. 


2  32  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Shortly  after,  Court,  still  wandering  and  preaching 
about  Languedoc,  became  seriously  ill.  He  feared  for 
his  wife,  he  feared  for  his  famil}^,  and  conceived  the 
design  of  joining  them  in  Switzerland.  A  few  months 
later,  exhausted  by  his  labours  and  continued  illness, 
he  left  Languedoc  and  journeyed  by  slow  stages  to 
Geneva.  He  was  still  a  young  man,  only  thirty- 
three  ;  but  he  had  worked  excessively  hard  during 
the  last  dozen  years.  Since  the  age  of  fourteen,  in 
fact,  he  had  evangelized  Languedoc. 

Shortly  before  Court  left  France  for  Switzerland,  the 
preacher,  Alexandre  Koussel,  was,  in  the  year  1728, 
added  to  the  number  of  martj'-rs.  He  was  only  twenty- 
six  years  of  age.  The  occasion  on  which  he  was  made 
prisoner  was  while  attending  an  assembly  near  Yigan. 
The  whole  of  the  people  had  departed,  and  Houssel  was 
the  last  to  leave  the  meeting.  He  was  taken  to  Mont- 
pellier,  and  imprisoned  in  the  citadel,  which  had  before 
held  so  many  Huguenot  pastors.  He  was  asked  to 
abjure,  and  offered  a  handsome  bribe  if  he  would  become 
a  Catholic.  He  refused  to  deny  his  faith,  and  was 
sentenced  to  die.  When  Antoine  Court  went  to  offer 
consolation  to  his  mother,  she  replied,  "  If  my  son  had 
given  way  I  should  have  been  greatly  distressed ;  but 
as  he  died  with  constancy,  I  thank  God  for  strengthen- 
ing him  to  perform  this  last  work  in  his  service." 

Court  did  not  leave  his  brethren  in  France  without 
the  expostulations  of  his  friends.  They  alleged  that  his 
affection  for  his  wife  and  family  had  cooled  his  zeal  for 
God's  service.  Duplan  and  Cortez  expostulated  with 
him  ;  and  the  churches  of  Languedoc,  which  he  himself 
had  established,  called  upon  him  to  return  to  his  duties 
amongst  them. 

But  Court  did  not  attend  to  their  request.       His 


REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.  233 

determination  was  for  tlie  present  unshaken.  He  had 
a  long  arrears  of  work  to  do  in  quiet.  He  had  money 
to  raise  for  the  support  of  the  suffering  Church  of 
France,  and  for  the  proper  maintenance  of  the  college 
for  students,  preachers,  and  pistors.  He  had  to  help 
the  refugees,  who  still  continued  to  leave  France  for 
Switzerland,  and  to  write  letters  and  rouse  the  Pro- 
testant kingdoms  of  the  north,  as  Brousson  had  done 
before  him  some  thirty  years  ago. 

The  city  of  Berne  was  very  generous  in  its  treatment 
of  Court  and  the  Huguenots  generally.  The  Bernish 
Government  allotted  Court  a  pension  of  five  hundred 
livres  a-year — for  he  was  without  the  means  of  sup- 
porting his  famil}^ — all  his  own  and  his  wife's  pro- 
perty having  been  seized  and  sequestrated  in  France. 
Court  preached  with  great  success  in  the  principal 
towns  of  Switzerland,  more  particularly  at  Berne,  and 
afterwards  at  Lausanne,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his 
day?. 

Though  ho  worked  there  more  peacefully,  he 
laboured  as  continuously  as  ever  in  the  service  of  the 
Huguenot  churches.  He  composed  addresses  to  them  ; 
he  educated  preachers  and  pastors  for  them  ;  and  one  of 
his  principal  works,  while  at  Lausanne,  was  to  compose 
a  history  of  the  Huguenots  in  France  subsequent  to  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  JSfantes. 

What  he  had  done  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
Huguenot  Church  in  France  may  be  thus  briefly  stated. 
Court  had  begun  his  work  in  1715,  at  which  time  there 
was  no  settled  congregation  in  the  South  of  France. 
The  Huguenots  were  only  ministered  to  by  occasional 
wandering  pastors.  In  1729,  the  year  in  which  Court 
finally  left  France,  there  were  in  Lower  Languedoc  29 
organized,    though    secretly    governed,   churches ;    in 


234-  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Upper  Languecloc,  11  ;  in  the  Cevennes,  18  ;  in  the 
.Lozere  12  ;  and  in  Yiverais,  42  churclies.  There  were 
now  over  200,000  recognised  Protestants  in  Languedoc 
alone.  The  ancient  discipline  had  been  restored  ;  120 
churches  had  been  organized ;  a  seminary  for  the 
education  of  preachers  and  pastors  had  been  established  ; 
and  Protestantism  was  extending  in  Dauphiny,  Beam, 
Saintonge,*  and  other  quarters. 

Such  were,  in  a  great  measure,  the  results  of  the 
labours  of  Antoine  Court  and  his  assistants  during  the 
previous  fifteen  years. 

*  In  1726,  a  deputation  from  Guyennc,  Royerguo,  and  Poitou, 
appeared  before  the  Languedoc  synod,  requesting  preachers  and 
pastors  to  be  sent  to  them.  The  synod  agreed  to  send  Maroger  as 
preacher.  Betrine  (the  first  of  the  Lausanne  students)  and  Grail 
were  afterwards  sent  to  join  him.  Protestantism  was  also  re- 
awakening in  Saintonge  and  Picardy,  and  pastors  from  Languedoc 
journeyed  there  to  administer  the  sacrament.  Preachers  were 
afterwards  sent  to  join  them,  to  awaken  the  people,  and  reorganize 
tlie  congregations. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE    CHURCH    IX    THE    DESERT,    1730-62 

PALL    RABAUT. 

THE  persecutions  of  the  Huguenots  increased  at  one 
time  and  relaxed  at  another.  When  France  was  at 
war,  and  the  soldiers  were  fighting  in  Flanders  or  on 
the  Ehine,  the  bishops  became  furious,  and  complained 
bitterly  to  the  government  of  the  toleration  shown  to 
the  Protestants.  The  reason  was  that  there  were  no 
regiments  at  liberty  to  pursue  the  Huguenots  and  dis- 
perse their  meetings  in  the  Desert.  When  the  soldiers 
returned  from  the  wars,  persecution  began  again. 

It  usually  began  with  the  seizing  and  burning  of 
books.  The  book-burning  days  were  considered  amongst 
the  great  days  of  fete. 

One  day  in  June,  1730,  the  Intendant  of  Languedoc 
visited  Nismes,  escorted  by  four  battalions  of  troops. 
On  arriving,  the  principal  Catholics  were  selected,  and 
placed  as  commissaries  to  watch  the  houses  of  the  sus- 
pected Huguenots.  At  night,  while  the  inhabitants 
slept,  the  troops  turned  out,  and  the  commissaries 
pointed  out  the  Huguenot  houses  to  be  searched.  The 
inmates  were  knocked  up,  the  soldiers  entered,  the 
houses  were  rummaged,  and  all  the  books  that  could 
be  found  were  taken  to  the  Hotel  de  Yille. 


236  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

A  few  days  after  a  great  auto-da-fe  was  held.  The 
entire  Catholic  population  turned  out.  There  were  the 
four  battalions  of  troops,  the  gendarmes,  the  CathoKc 
priests,  and  the  chief  dignitaries  ;  and  in  their  presence 
all  the  Huguenot  books  were  destroyed.  They  were 
thrown  into  a  pile  on  the  usual  place  of  execution,  and 
the  hangman  set  fire  to  this  great  mass  of  Bibles, 
psalm-books,  catechisms,  and  sermons.*  The  officers 
laughed,  the  priests  sneered,  the  multitude  cheered. 
These  bonfires  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  all  the 
towns  of  Languedoc. 

But  if  the  priests  hated  the  printed  word,  still  more 
did  they  hate  the  spoken  word.  They  did  not  like 
the  Bible,  but  they  hated  the  preachers.  Fines,  auto- 
da-fes,  condemnation  to  the  galleys,  seizures  of  women 
and  girls,  and  profanation  of  the  dead,  were  tolerable 
punishments,  but  there  was  nothing  like  hanging  a 
preacher.  "IN^othing,"  said  Saint -Florentin  to  the 
commandant  of  La  Devese,  "  can  produce  more  impres- 
sion than  hanging  a  preacher  ;  and  it  is  very  desirable 
that  you  should  immediately  take  steps  to  arrest  one  of 
them." 

The  commandant  obeyed  orders,  and  apprehended 
Pierre  Durand.  He  was  on  his  way  to  baptize  the 
child  of  one  of  his  congregation,  who  lived  on  a  farm 
in  Yiverais,  An  apparent  peasant,  who  seemed  to  be 
waiting  his  approach,  offered  to  conduct  him  to  the 
farm.  Durand  followed  him.  The  peasant  proved  to 
be  a  soldier  in  disguise.  He  led  Durand  directly  into 
the  midst  of  his  troop.  There  he  was  bound  and 
carried  off  to  Montpellier. 

Durand  was  executed  at  the  old  place — the  Peyrou — 

*  E.  Hughes,  **  Histoire  de  la  Eestauration  du  Protestantisms  en 
France,"  ii.  96. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT.        237 

the  soldiers  beating  their  drums  to  stifle  liis  voice 
while  he  prayed.  His  corpse  was  laid  beside  that  of 
Alexandre  Roussel,  under  the  rampart  of  the  fortress 
of  Montpellier.  Durand  was  the  last  of  the  preachers  in 
France  who  had  attended  the  synod  of  1715.  They 
had  all  been  executed,  excepting  only  Antoine  Court, 
w^ho  was  safe  in  Switzerland. 

The  priests  were  not  so  successful  with  Claris,  the 
preacher,  who  contrived  to  escape  their  clutches.  Claris 
had  just  reached  France  on  his  return  from  the  semi- 
nary at  Lausanne.  He  had  taken  shelter  for  the  night 
with  a  Protestant  friend  at  Foissac,  near  Uzes.  Scarcely 
had  he  fallen  asleep,  when  the  soldiers,  informed  by 
the  spies,  entered  his  chamber,  bound  him,  and  marched 
him  off  on  foot  by  night,  to  Alais.  He  was  thrown 
into  gaol,  and  was  afterwards  judged  and  condemned 
to  death.  His  friends  in  Alais,  however,  secretly  con- 
trived to  get  an  iron  chisel  passed  to  him  in  prison. 
He  raised  the  stone  of  a  chamber  which  communicated 
with  his  dungeon,  descended  to  the  ground,  and  silently 
leapt  the  wall.     He  was  saved. 

Pastors  and  preachers  continued  to  be  tracked  and 
hunted  ^^ith  renewed  ardour  in  Saintonge,  Poitou, 
Gascony,  and  Dauphiny.  "The  Chase,"  as  it  was 
called,  was  better  organized  than  it  had  been  for  twenty 
years  previously.  The  Catholic  clergy,  however,  con- 
tinued to  complain.  The  chase,  they  said,  was  not 
productive  enough  !  The  hangings  of  pastors  were 
too  few.  The  curates  of  the  Cevennes  thus  addressed  the 
intendants :  "  You  do  not  perform  your  duty :  you 
are  neither  active  enough  nor  pitiless  enough  ;  "  *  and 
they  requested  the  government  to  adopt  more  vigorous 
measures. 

*  E.  Hughes,  ii.  99.     Coquerel,  *'  L'Eglise  dans  ie  Desert,"  i.  258. 


238  THE  HUGUENOTS. 


t 


Tlie  inlendants,  who  were  tlius  accused,  insisted  that 
they  had  done  their  duty.  They  had  hanged  all  the 
Ilugiienot  preachers  that  the  priests  and  their  spies 
had  discovered  and  brought  to  them.  They  had  also 
offered  increased  rewards  for  the  preachers'  heads.  If 
Protestantism  counted  so  large  a  number  of  adherents, 
they  were  surely  not  to  blame  for  that !  Had  the  priests 
themselves  done  their  duty  ?  Thus  the  intendants  and 
the  cures  reproached  each  other  by  turns. 

And  yet  the  pastors  and  preachers  had  not  been 
spared.  They  had  been  hanged  without  mercy. 
They  knew  they  were  in  the  peril  of  constant  death. 
"  I  have  slept  fifteen  daj's  in  a  meadow,"  wrote 
Cortez,  the  pastor,  "and  I  write  this  under  a  tree.'' 
Morel,  the  preacher,  when  attending  an  assembly,  w^as 
fired  at  by  the  soldiers  and  died  of  his  wounds. 
Pierre  Dortial  w^as  also  taken  prisoner  when  holding 
an  assembly.  The  host  with  whom  he  lived  was  con- 
demned to  the  galleys  for  life ;  the  arrondissement  in 
which  the  assembly  had  been  held  was  compelled  to 
pay  a  fine  of  three  thousand  livres ;  and  Dortial  him- 
self was  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  When  the  aged 
preacher  was  informed  of  his  sentence  he  exclaimed  : 
"  What  an  honour  for  me,  oh  my  God !  to  have  been 
chosen  from  so  many  others  to  suffer  death  because  of 
my  constancy  to  the  truth."  He  w^as  executed  at 
Nismes,  and  died  with  courage. 

In  1742  France  was  at  war,  and  the  Huguenots  en- 
joyed a  certain  amount  of  libert}^  The  edicts  against 
them  were  by  no  means  revoked ;  their  execution  was 
merely  suspended.  The  provinces  were  stripped  of 
troops,  and  the  clergy  could  no  longer  call  upon  them  to 
scatter  the  meetings  in  the  Desert.  Hence  the  assem- 
blies increased.     The  people  began  to  think  that  the 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT       .239 

commandants  of  tlie  proyinces  had.  received  orders  to 
sliut  their  eyes,  and  see  nothing  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  Huf^uenots. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  a  valley  between  Calvisson  and 
Langlade,  in  Languedoc,  no  fewer  than  ten  thousand 
persons  openly  met  for  worship.  No  troops  appeared. 
There  was  no  alarm  nor  surprise.  Everything  passed 
in  perfect  quiet.  In  many  other  places,  public  worship 
was  celebrated,  the  sacrament  was  administered,  chil- 
dren were  baptized,  and  marriages  were  celebrated  in 
the  open  day.  * 

The  Catholics  again  urgently  complained  to  the 
government  of  the  increasing  number  of  Huguenot 
meetings.  The  Bishop  of  Poitiers  complained  that  in 
certain  parishes  of  his  diocese  there  was  not  now  a 
single  Catholic.  Low  Poitou  contained  thirty  Protestant 
churches,  divided  into  tweh^e  arrondissements,  and  each 
arrondissement  contained  about  seven  thousand  mem- 
bers. The  Procureur-General  of  iN^ormandy  said,  ''All 
this  country  is  full  of  Huguenots."  But  the  govern- 
ment had  at  present  no  troops  to  spare,  and  the  Catholic 
bishops  and  clergy  must  necessarily  wait  until  the  war 
with  the  English  and  the  Austrians  had  come  to  an  end. 

Antoine  Court  paid  a  short  visit  to  Languedoc  in 
1744,  to  reconcile  a  difference  which  had  arisen  in  the 
Church  through  the  irregular  conduct  of  Pastor  Boyer. 
Court  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  when 
Boyer  was  re-established  in  his  position  as  pastor,  after 
making  his  submission  to  the  synod,  a  convocation  of 

*  Although,  marriages  by  the  pastors  had  long  been  declared 
illegal,  they  nevertheless  married  and  baptized  in  the  Desert.  After 
1730,  the  number  of  Protestant  marriages  greatly  multiplied,  though 
it  was  known  that  the  issue  of  such  marriages  were  declared  by  the 
laws  of  France  to  be  illegal.  Many  of  the  Protestants  of  Dauphiny 
went  across  the  frontier  into  Switzerland,  principally  to  Geneva,  and 
were  there  married. 


240.  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Huguenots  was  held  near  Sauzet,  at  wliich  tliousands 
of  people  were  present.  Court  remained  for  about  a 
month,  in  France,  preaching  almost  daily  to  immense 
audiences.  At  Nismes,  he  preached  at  the  famous 
place  for  Huguenot  meetings — -in  the  old  quarry, 
about  three  miles  from  the  town.  There  were  about 
twenty  thousand  persons  present,  ranged,  as  in  an 
amphitheatre,  along  the  sides  of  the  quarry.  It  was  a 
most  impressive  sight.  Peasants  and  gentlemen  mixed 
together.  Even  the  "  beau  monde  "  of  Nismes  was 
present.  Everybody  thought  that  there  was  now  an 
end  of  the  persecution.* 

In  the  meantime  the  clergy  continued  to  show  signs 
of  increasing  irritation.  They  complained,  denounced, 
and  threatened.  Various  calumnies  were  invented 
respecting  the  Huguenots.  The  priests  of  Dauphiny 
gave  out  that  Koger,  the  pastor,  had  read  an  edict  pur- 
porting to  be  signed  by  Louis  XV.  granting  complete 
toleration  to  the  Huguenots  !  The  report  was  entirely 
without  foundation,  and  Roger  indignantly  denied  that 
he  had  read  any  such  edict.  But  the  report  reached 
the  ears  of  the  King,  then  before  Ypres  with  his  army  ; 
on  Avhich  he  issued  a  proclamation  announcing  that  the 
rumour  publicly  circulated  that  it  was  his  intention  to 
tolerate  the  Huguenots  was  absolutely  false. 

No  sooner  had  the  war  terminated,  and  the  army 
returned  to  France,  than  the  persecutions  recom- 
menced  as   hotly    as   ever.      The  citizens  of  Msmes, 

*  Of  the  preachers  about  this  time  (1740-4)  the  best  known  wero 
Morel,  Foriel,  Mauvillon,  VoulauJ,  Corteiz,  Peyrot,  Roux,  Gauch, 
Coste,  Dugniere,  Blachon,  Gabriac,  Dejoiirs,  Rabaut,  Gibert,  Mig- 
nault  Desubas,  Dubesset,  Pradel,  JVtorin,  DefFerre,  Loire,  Pradon, — 
■with  many  more.  DefFerre  restored  Protestantism  in  B  rne.  Loire 
(a  native  of  St.  Omer,  and  formerly  a  Catholic),  Viala,  Preneuf,  and 
Prudon,  were  the  apostles  of  Normandy,  Rouergue,  Guyenne,  and 
Poitou. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT.        241 

for  having  recently  encouraged  the  Huguenots  and 
attended  Court's  great  meeting,  were  heavily  fined.  All 
the  existing  laws  for  the  repression  and  destruction 
of  Protestantism  were  enforced.  Suspected  persons 
were  apprehended  and  imprisoned  without  trial.  A 
new  "hunt''  was  set  on  foot  for  preachers.  There 
were  now  plenty  of  soldiers  at  liberty  to  suppress  the 
meetings  in  the  Desert,  and  they  were  ordered  into  the 
infested  quarters.  In  a  word,  persecution  was  let 
loose  all  over  France,  ^^or  was  it  without  the  usual 
results.  It  was  very  hot  in  Dauphiny.  There  a 
detachment  of  horse  police,  accompanied  by  regular 
troops  and  a  hangman,  ran  through  the  province  early 
in  1745,  spreading  terror  everywhere.  One  of  their 
exploits  was  to  seize  a  sick  old  Huguenot,  drag  him 
from  his  bed,  and  force  him  towards  prison.  He  died 
upon  the  road. 

In  February,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Huguenots 
met  for  worship  in  a  certain  cavern.  The  owner  of  the 
estate  on  which  the  cavern  was  situated,  though  unaware 
of  the  meetings,  was  fined  a  thousand  crowns,  and  im- 
prisoned for  a  year  in  the  Castle  of  Cret. 

Next  month,  Louis  Ranc,  a  pastor,  was  seized  at 
Livron  while  baptizing  an  infant,  taken  to  Die,  and 
hanged.  He  had  scarcely  breathed  his  last,  when 
the  hangman  cut  the  cord,  hewed  oft'  the  head,  and 
made  a  young  Protestant  draw  the  corpse  along  the 
streets  of  Die. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1745,  Jacques  Poger,  the  old 
friend  and  coadjutor  of  Court — the  apostle  of  Dauphiny 
as  Court  had  been  of  Languedoc — was  taken  prisoner 
and  conducted  to  Grenoble.  Poger  was  then  eighty 
years  old,  worn  out  with  privation  and  hard  work.  He 
was  condemned  to  death.  He  professed  his  joy  at  being 


242  THE  HUG UENOTS. 

still  able  to  seal  with  his  blood  the  truths  he  had  so  often 
proclaimed.  On  his  way  to  the  scaffold,  he  sang  aloud 
the  fifty-first  Psalm.  He  was  executed  in  the  Place  du 
Breuil.  After  he  had  hung  for  twenty-four  hours,  his 
body  was  taken  down,  dragged  along  the  streets  of 
Grenoble,  and  thrown  into  the  Isere. 

At  Grenoble  also,  in  the  same  year,  seven  persons 
were  condemned  to  the  galleys.  A  young  woman 
was  publicly  whipped  at  the  same  place  for  attending 
a  Huguenot  meeting.  Seven  students  and  pastors  who 
could  not  be  found,  were  hanged  in  effigy.  Four 
houses  were  demolished  for  having  served  as  asjdums 
for  preachers.  Fines  were  levied  on  all  sides,  and 
punishments  of  various  kinds  were  awarded  to  many 
hundred  persons.  Thus  persecution  ran  riot  in 
Dauphiny  in  the  years  1745  and  1746. 

In  Languedoc  it  was  the  same.  The  prisons  and 
the  galleys  were  always  kept  full.  Dragoons  were 
quartered  in  the  Huguenot  villages,  and  b}^  this 
means  the  inhabitants  were  soon  ruined.  The  soldiers 
pillaged  the  houses,  destroyed  the  furniture,  tore  up 
the  linen,  drank  all  the  w^ine,  and,  when  they  were 
in  good  humour,  followed  the  cattle,  swine,  and  fowl, 
and  killed  them  off  sword  in  hand.  Montauban,  an 
old  Huguenot  town,  was  thus  ruined  in  the  course  of  a 
very  few  months. 

One  day,  in  a  Languedoc  village,  a  soldier  seized  a 
young  girl  with  a  foul  intention.  She  cried  aloud, 
and  the  villagers  came  to  her  rescue.  The  dragoons 
turned  out  in  a  body,  and  fired  upon  the  people.  An 
old  man  was  shot  dead,  a  number  of  the  villagers  were 
taken  prisoners,  and,  with  their  hands  tied  to  the 
horses'  tails,  were  conducted  for  punishment  to 
Montauban. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT.        243 

All  tlie  towns  and  villages  in  Upper  Languedoc  were 
treated  with,  the  same  cruelty.  Nismes  was  fined  over 
and  over  again.  YiA'erais  was  treated  with  the  usual 
severity.  M.  Desubas,  the  pastor,  was  taken  prisoner 
there,  and  conducted  to  Yernoux.  As  the  soldiers  led 
him  through  the  country  to  prison,  the  villagers  came 
out  in  crowds  to  see  him  pass.  Many  followed  the 
pastor,  thinking  they  might  be  able  to  induce  the 
magistrates  of  Yernoux  to  liberate  him.  The  villagers 
were  no  sooner  cooped  up  in  a  mass  in  the  chief 
street  of  the  town,  than  they  were  suddenly  fired 
upon  by  the  soldiers.  Thirty  persons  were  killed  on 
the  spot,  more  than  two  hundred  were  wounded,  and 
many  afterwards  died  of  their  wounds. 

Desubas,  the  pastor,  was  conducted  to  Nismes,  and 
from  Nismes  to  Montpellier.  While  on  his  way  to 
death,  at  Montpellier,  some  of  his  peasant  friends, 
wbo  lived  along  the  road,  determined  to  rescue 
bim.  But  when  Paul  Rabaut  heard  of  the  proposed 
attempt,  he  ran  to  the  place  where  the  people  had 
assembled  and  held  them  back.  He  was  opposed  to 
all  resistance  to  the  governing  power,  and  thought  it 
possible,  by  patience  and  righteousness,  to  live  down 
all  this  horrible  persecution. 

Desubas  was  judged,  and,  as  usual,  condemned  to 
death.  Though  it  w^as  winter  time,  he  was  led  to  his 
punishment  almost  naked ;  his  legs  uncovered,  and 
only  a  thin  linen  vest  over  his  body.  Arrived  at  the 
gallows,  his  books  and  papers  wxre  burnt  before  his 
eyes,  and  he  was  then  delivered  over  to  the  executioner. 
A  Jesuit  presented  a  crucifix  for  him  to  kiss,  but  he 
turned  his  head  to  one  side,  raised  his  eyes  upwards, 
and  was  then  hanged. 

The  same  persecution  prevailed  over  the  greater  part 

17 


24+  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

of  France.  In  Saintonge,  Elie  Yivien,  tlie  preacher, 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  hanged  at  La  Rochelle.  His 
body  remained  for  twenty-four  hours  on  the  gallows. 
It  was  then  placed  upon  a  forked  gibbet,  where  it 
hung  until  the  bones  were  picked  clean  by  the  crows 
and  bleached  by  the  wind  and  the  sun.* 

The  same  series  of  persecutions  went  on  from  one 
year  to  another.  It  was  a  miserable  monotony  of 
cruelty.  There  was  hanging  for  the  pastors ;  the  galleys 
for  men  attending  meetings  in  the  Desert ;  the  prisons 
and  convents  for  women  and  children.  Wherever  it  was 
found  that  persons  had  been  married  by  the  Huguenot 
pastors,  they  were  haled  before  the  magistrate,  fined  and 
imprisoned,  and  told  that  they  had  been  merely  living  in 
concubinage,  and  that  their  children  were  illegitimate. 

Sometimes  it  was  thought  that  the  persecutors  would 
relent.  France  was  again  engaged  in  a  disastrous 
war  with  England  and  Austria ;  and  it  was  feared  that 
England  would  endeavour  to  stir  up  a  rebellion  amongst 
the  Huguenots.  But  the  pastors  met  in  a  general 
synod,  and  passed  resolutions  assuring  the  government 
of  their  loyalty  to  the  King,  f  and  of  their  devotion  to 
the  laws  of  France  ! 

Their  "loyalty"  proved  of  no  use.  The  towns  of 
Languedoc  were  as  heavily  fined  as  before,  for  attending 
meetings  in  the  Desert.  +     Children  were,  as  usual,  taken 

*  E.  Hughes,  "Histoire  de  la  Restauration,"  &c.,  ii.  202. 

t  On  the  1st  of  November,  1746,  the  ministers  of  Languedoc  met 
in  haste,  and  wrote  to  the  Intendant,  Le  Nain :  *'  Monseigneur, 
nous  n'avons  aucune  connaissance  de  ces  gens  qu'on  appelle  emis- 
saires,  et  qu'on  dit  etre  envoyes  des  pays  etrangers  pour  solliciter  les 
Prott  stants  a  la  revolte.  Nous  avons  exhorte,  et  nous  nous  proposons 
d'exliorter  encore  dans  tontes  les  occasions,no3  troupeaux  a  la  soumis- 
sion  au  souverain  et  a  la  patience  dans  les  afflictions,  et  de  nous 
ccarter  jamais  de  la  pratique  de  ce  precepte :  Craignez  Dieu  et 
h'^norez  le  roi." 

1  Tres  de  Saint-Aiiibroix  (Cevennes)  se  tint  un  jour  une  ussemblee. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT.        245 

away  from  their  parents  and  placed  in  Jesuit  con- 
vents. Le  Nain  apprehended  Jean  Desjours,  and  had 
him  hanged  at  Montpellier,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
accompanied  the  peasants  who,  as  above  recited,  went 
into  Yernoux  after  the  martyr  Desubas. 

The  Catholics  would  not  even  allow  Protestant  corpses 
to  be  buried  in  peace.  At  I^evaur  a  well-known 
Huguenot  died.  Two  of  his  friends  went  to  dig  a  grave 
for  him  by  night ;  they  were  observed  by  spies  and 
informed  against.  By  dint  of  money  and  entreaties, 
however,  the  friends  succeeded  in  getting  the  dead  man 
buried.  The  populace,  stirred  up  by  the  "White  Peni- 
tents (monks),  opened  the  grave,  took  out  the  corpse, 
sawed  the  head  from  the  body,  and  prepared  to  commit 
further  outrages,  when  the  police  interfered,  and  buried 
the  body  again,  in  consideration  of  the  large  sum  that 
had  been  paid  to  the  authorities  for  its  interment. 

The  populace  were  always  wild  for  an  exhibition  of 
cruelty.  In  Provence,  a  Protestant  named  Montague 
died,  and  was  secretly  interred.  The  Catholics  having 
discovered  the  place  where  he  was  buried  determined  to 
disinter  him.  The  grave  was  opened,  and  the  corpse 
taken  out.  A  cord  was  attached  to  the  neck,  and  the 
body  was  hauled  through  the  village  to  the  music  of  a 
tambourine  and  flageolet.  At  every  step  it  was  kicked 
or  mauled  by  the  crowd  who  accompanied  it.  Under 
the  kicks  the  corpse  burst.  The  furious  brutes  then 
took  out  the  entrails  and  attached  them  to  poles,  going 
through  the  village  crying,  "  Who  wants  preachings  ? 
Who  wants  preachings  ?  "* 

To  such  a  pitch  of  brutality  had  the  kings  of  France 

Survint  un  detachement.  Les  femmes  et  les  filles  fiirent  depouillees, 
insultees,  violees,  et  quelques  hommes  furent  blesses. — E.  Hl'GHEs, 
llistoire  de  la  Hestauration,  ^-c,  ii.  212. 

*  Antoine  Court,  "Memoire  Historique,"  140. 


24b  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

and  tlieir  instigators,  the  Jesuits — wlio,  since  the 
Kevocation  of  the  Edict,  had  nearly  the  whole  education 
of  the  country  in  their  hands — reduced  the  people  ;  from 
whom  they  were  themselves,  however,  to  suffer  almost 
an  equal  amount  of  indignity. 

In  the  midst  of  these  hangings  and  cruelties,  the 
bishops  again  complained  bitterly  of  the  tolerance 
granted  to  the  Huguenots.  M.  de  Montclus,  Bishop  of 
Alais,  urged  ''  that  the  true  cause  of  all  the  evils 
that  afflict  the  country  was  the  relaxation  of  the  laws 
against  heresy  by  the  magistrates,  that  they  gave  them- 
selves no  trouble  to  persecute  the  Protestants,  and  that 
their  further  emigration  from  the  kingdom  was  no  more 
to  be  feared  than  formerly.''  It  was,  they  alleged,  a 
great  danger  to  the  country  that  there  should  be  in 
it  two  millions  of  men  allowed  to  live  without  church 
and  outside  the  law.* 

The  afflicted  Church  at  this  time  had  many  misfortunes 
to  contend  with.  In  1748,  the  noble,  self-denying,  inde- 
fatigable Claris  died — one  of  the  few  Protestant  pastors 
who  died  in  his  bed.  In  1750,  the  eloquent  young 
preacher,  Francois  Benezet,t  was  taken  and  hanged  at 
Montpellier.  Meetings  in  the  Desert  were  more 
vigorously  attacked  and  dispersed,  and  when  sur- 
rounded by  the  soldiers,  most  persons  were  shot ;  the 
others  were  taken  prisoners. 

The  Huguenot  pastors  repeatedly  addressed  Louis  XY. 
and  his  ministers,  appealing  to  them  for  j)rotection 
as  loyal  subjects.  In  1750  they  addressed  the  King  in 
a  new  memorial,  respectfully  representing  that  their 
meetings    for    public   worship,    sacraments,   baptisms, 

*  See  "  Memorial  of  General  Assembly  of  Clergy  to  the  King,"  in 
Collection  des  pj-och-verhaux,  34o. 

f-The  King  granted  480  livres  of  rev.'ard  to  the  spy  who  detected 
Benezet  and  procured  his  apprehension  by  the  soldiers. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT.        247 

and  marriages,  were  matters  of  conscience.  They 
added  :  *' Your  troops  pursue  us  in  tlie  deserts  as  if  we 
were  wild  beasts;  our  property  is  confiscated;  our 
cliildren  are  torn  from  us ;  we  are  condemned  to  tlie 
galleys ;  and  altliougli  our  ministers  continually  exhort 
us  to  discharge  our  duty  as  good  citizens  and  faithful 
subjects,  a  price  is  set  upon  their  heads,  and  when  they 
are  taken,-  they  are  cruelly  executed."  But  Louis  XV. 
and  his  ministers  gave  no  greater  heed  to  this  petition 
than  they  had  done  to  those  which  had  preceded  it. 

After  occasional  relays  the  Catholic  persecutions 
again  broke  out.  In  1752  there  was  a  considerable 
emigration  in  consequence  of  a  new  intendant  haying 
been  appointed  to  Languedoc.  The  Catholics  called 
upon  him  to  put  in  force  the  powers  of  the  law.  JSTew 
brooms  sweep  clean.  The  Intendant  proceeded  to  carry 
out  the  law  with  such  ferocity  as  to  excite  great 
terror  throughout  the  province.  Meetings  were  sur- 
rounded ;  prisoners  taken  and  sent  to  the  galleys ;  and 
all  the  gaols  and  convents  were  filled  with  women  and 
children. 

The  emigration  began  again.  Many  hundred  per- 
sons went  to  Holland  ;  and  a  still  larger  number  went 
to  settle  with  their  compatriots  as  silk  and  poplin 
weavers  in  Dublin.  The  Intendant  of  Languedoc  tried 
to  stop  their  flight.  The  roads  were  again  watched  as 
before.  All  the  outlets  from  the  kingdom  were  closed 
by  the  royalist  troops.  Many  of  the  intending  emi- 
grants were  made  prisoners.  They  were  spoiled  of 
everything,  robbed  of  their  money,  and  thro^Ti  into 
gaol.  IN^evertheless,  another  large  troop  started,  passed 
through  Switzerland,  and  reached  Ireland  at  the  end  of 
the  year. 

At  the  same  time,  emigration  was  going  on  from 


248  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

j^ormand}''  and  Poitou,  where  persecution  was  ccm- 
pelling  tlie  people  to  fly  from  their  own  shores  and 
take  refuge  in  England.  This  religious  emigration  of 
1752  was,  however,  almost  the  last  which  took  place 
from  France.  Though  the  persecutions  were  drawing 
to  an  end,  they  had  not  yet  come  to  a  close. 

In  1754,  the  young  pastor  Tessier  (called  Lafage), 
had  just  returned  from  Lausanne,  where  he  had  been 
pursuing  his  studies  for  three  years.  He  had  been 
tracked  by  a  spy  to  a  certain  house,  where  he  had  spent 
the  night.  Next  morning  the  house  was  surrounded  by 
soldiers.  Tessier  tried  to  escape  by  getting  out  of  a 
top  window  and  running  along  the  roofs  of  the  adjoining 
houses.  A  soldier  saw  him  escaping  and  shot  at  him. 
He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  arm.  He  was  captured, 
taken  before  the  Intendant  of  Languedoc,  condemned, 
and  hanged  in  the  course  of  the  same  day. 

Religious  meetings  also  continued  to  be  surrounded, 
and  were  treated  in  the  usual  brutal  manner.  For 
instance,  an  assembly  was  held  in  Lower  Languedoc  on 
the  8th  of  August,  1756,  for  the  purpose  of  ordaining 
to  the  ministry  three  young  men  who  had  arrived  from 
Lausanne,  where  they  had  been  educated.  A  number 
of  pastors  were  present,  and  as  many  as  from  ten  to 
twelve  thousand  men,  women,  and  children  were  there 
from  the  surrounding  country.  The  congregation  was 
singing  a  psalm,  when  a  detachment  of  soldiers  ap- 
proached. The  people  saw  them ;  the  singing  ceased  : 
the  pastors  urging  patience  and  submission.  The  soldiers 
fired;  everj?-  shot  told;  and  the  crowd  fled  in  all  directions. 
The  meeting  was  thus  dispersed,  leaving  the  murderers 
— in  other  words,  the  gallant  soldiers — masters  of  the 
field  ;  a  long  track  of  blood  remaining  to  mark  the  site 
on  which  the  prayer-meeting  had  been  htld. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT         249 

It  is  not  necessary  to  recount  further  cruelties  and 
tortures.  Assemblies  surrounded  and  people  shot ; 
preachers  seized  and  hanged  ;  men  sent  to  the  galleys  ; 
women  sent  to  the  Tour  de  Constance  ;  children 
carried  off  to  the  convents — such  was  the  horrible 
ministry  of  torture  in  France.  When  Court  heard  of 
the  re-inflictions  of  some  old  form  of  torture — ''Alas/' 
said  he,  ''  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun.  In  all 
times,  the  storm  of  persecution  has  cleansed  the  thresh- 
ing-floor of  the  Lord." 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  all  the  bitterness  of  the 
persecution,  the  number  of  Protestants  increased.  It 
is  difficidt  to  determine  their  numbers.  Their  apologists 
said  they  amounted  to  three  millions  ;  *  their  de- 
tractors that  they  did  not  amount  to  four  hundred 
thousand.  The  number  of  itinerant  pastors,  however, 
steadily  grew.  In  1756  there  were  48  pastors  at  work, 
with  22  probationary  preachers  and  students.  In  1763 
there  were  62  pastors,  35  preachers,  and  15  students. 

Then  followed  the  death  of  Antoine  Court  himself  in 
Switzerland — after  watching  over  the  education  and 
training  of  preachers  at  the  Lausanne  Seminary.  Feel- 
ing his  powers  begining  to  fail,  he  had  left  Lausanne, 
and  resided  at  Timonex.  There,  assisted  by  his  son 
Court  de  Gebelin,  Professor  of  Logic  at  the  College,  he 
conducted  an  immense  correspondence  with  French 
Protestants  at  home  and  abroad. 

Court's  wife  died  in  1755,  to  his  irreparable  loss. 
His  ''Pachel,"  during  his  many  years  of  peril,  had 
been  his  constant  friend  and  consoler.     Unable,  after 

*  Eipert  de  Monclar,  procnreur-general,  writing  in  17o-5,  says  : 
"  According  to  the  jiiiisprudence  of'  this  kingdom,  there  are  no  French 
Protestants,  and  yet,  according  to  the  truth  of  facts,  there  are  three 
millions.  These  imaginarj-  beings  fill  the  towns,  provinces,  and  rural 
districts,  and  the  capital  alone  contains  sixty  thousand  of  them," 


250  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

her  death,  to  live  at  Timonex,  so  full  of  cruel  recollec- 
tions, Court  returned  to  Lausanne.  He  did  not 
long  survive  his  wife's  death.  While  engaged  in 
writing  the  history  of  the  Keformed  Church  of  France, 
he  was  taken  ill.  His  history  of  the  Camisards  was 
sent  to  press,  and  he  Kved  to  revise  the  first  proof- 
sheets.  But  he  did  not  survive  to  see  the  book  pub- 
lished. He  died  on  the  15th  June,  1760,  in  the  sixty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age. 

From  the  time  of  Court's  death — indeed  from  the 
time  that  Court  left  France  to  settle  at  Lausanne — Paul 
Rabaut  continued  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  leader  and 
director  of  the  proscribed  Huguenot  Church.  Rabaut 
originally  belonged  to  Bedarieux  in  Languedoc.  He  was 
a  great  friend  of  Pradel's.  Babaut  served  the  Church 
at  Nismes,  and  Pradel  at  Uzes.  Both  spent  two  3'ears  at 
Lausanne  in  1744-5.  Court  entertained  the  highest 
affection  for  Babaut,  and  regarded  him  as  his  successor. 
And  indeed  he  nobly  continued  the  work  which  Court 
had  begun. 

Besides  being  zealous,  studious,  and  pious,  Babaut 
was  firm,  active,  shrewd,  and  gentle.  He  stood  strongly 
upon  moral  force.  Once,  when  th3  Huguenots  had 
become  more  than  usually  provoked  by  the  persecutions 
practised  on  them,  the}^  determined  to  appear  armed  at 
the  assemblies.  Babaut  peremptorily  forbade  it.  If  they 
persevered,  he  would  forsake  their  meetings.  He  pre- 
vailed, and  they  came  armed  only  with  their  Bibles. 

The  directness  of  Babaut's  character,  the  nobility  of 
his  sentiments,  the  austerity  of  his  life,  and  his  heroic 
courage,  evidently  destined  him  us  the  head  of  the 
work  which  Court  had  begun.  Aiitoine  Court  !  Paul 
Babaut !  The  one  restored  Protestantism  in  France, 
the  other  rooted  and  established  it. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  DESERT.       251 

Eabaut's  entliusiasm  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  extract  of  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  a 
friend  at  Geneva  :  "  "When  I  fix  my  attention  upon 
the  divine  fire  with  which,  I  will  not  say  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Apostles,  but  the  Reformed  and  their  imme- 
diate successors,  burned  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  it 
seems  to  me  that,  in  comparison  with  them,  we  are  ice. 
Their  immense  works  astound  me,  and  at  the  same 
time  cover  me  with  confusion.  What  would  I  not 
give  to  resemble  them  in  everything  laudable !  " 

Rabaut  had  the  same  privations,  perils,  and  diffi- 
culties to  undergo  as  the  rest  of  the  pastors  in  the 
Desert.  He  had  to  assume  all  sorts  of  names  and  dis- 
guises while  he  travelled  throuo^h  the  countrv,  in  order  to 
preach  at  the  appointed  places.  He  w^ent  by  the  names 
of  M.  Paul,  M.  Denis,  M.  Pastourel,  and  M.  Theophile  ; 
and  he  travelled  under  the  disguises  of  a  common 
labourer,  a  trader,  a  journeyman,  and  a  baker. 

He  was  condemned  to  death,  as  a  pastor  who  preached 
in  defiance  of  the  law  ;  but  his  disguises  were  so  well 
prepared,  and  the  people  for  whom  he  ministered  were 
so  faithful  to  him,  that  the  priests  and  other  spies  never 
succeeded  in  apprehending  him.  Singularly  enough, 
he  was  in  all  other  respects  in  favour  of  the  recognition 
of  legal  authority,  and  strongly  urged  his  brethren  never 
to  adopt  any  means  whatever  of  forcibly  resisting  the 
King's  orders. 

Many  of  the  military  commanders  were  becoming 
disgusted  with  the  despicable  and  cowardly  business 
which  the  priests  called  upon  them  to  do.  Thus,  on  one 
occasion,  a  number  of  Protestants  had  assembled  at  the 
house  of  Paul  Rabaut  at  Nismes,  and,  while  they  were 
on  their  knees,  the  door  was  suddenly  burst  open,  when 
a  man,  muffled  up,  presented  himself,   and  throwing 


252  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

open  his  cloak,  discovered  tlie  military  commandant  of 
the  town.  ''My  friends/'  he  said,  "you  haye  Paul 
Rabaut  with  you ;   in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  I  shall  be 

here  with  my  soldiers,  accompanied  by  Father , 

who  has  just  laid  the  information  against  you."  When 
the  soldiers  arrived,  headed  by  the  commandant  and 
the  father,  of  course  no  Paul  Pabaut  w^as  to  be  found. 

"For  more  than  thirty  years,"  says  one  of  Paul 
Pabaut's  biographers,  "caverns  and  huts,  whence  he 
was  unearthed  like  a  wild  animal,  were  his  only  habita- 
tion. For  a  long  time  he  dwelt  in  a  safe  hiding-place 
that  one  of  his  faithful  guides  had  provided  for  him, 
under  a  pile  of  stones  and  thorn-bushes.  It  was  dis- 
covered at  length  by  a  shepherd,  and  such  w^as  the 
wretchedness  of  his  condition,  that,  when  he  was  forced 
to  abandon  the  place,  he  still  regretted  this  retreat, 
which  was  more  fit  for  savage  beasts  than  men." 

Yet  this  hut  of  piled  stones  was  for  some  time  the 
centre  of  Protestant  afKiirs  in  France.  All  the  faith- 
ful instinctively  turned  to  Pabaut  when  assailed  by 
fresh  difficulties  and  persecutions,  and  acted  on  his 
advice.  He  obtained  the  respect  even  of  the  Catho- 
lics themselves,  because  it  was  known  that  he  was  a 
friend  of  peace,  and  opposed  to  all  risings  and  rebel- 
lions amongst  his  people. 

Once  he  had  the  courage  to  present  a  petition  to  the 
Marquis  de  Paulmy,  Minister  of  War,  when  changing 
horses  at  a  post-house  between  Kismes  and  Montpellier. 
Pabaut  introduced  himself  by  name,  and  the  Marquis 
knew  that  it  was  the  proscribed  pastor  who  stood 
before  him.  He  might  have  arrested  and  hanged 
Pabaut  on  the  spot ;  but,  impressed  by  the  noble  bear- 
ing of  the  pastor,  he  accepted  the  petition,  and 
promised  to  lay  it  before  the  king. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

EXD    OF   THE   PERSECUTIONS THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

IN  the  year  1762,  tlie  execution  of  an  unknown  Pro- 
testant at  Toulouse  made  an  extraordinary  noise 
in  Europe.  Protestant  pastors  liad  so  often  been  exe- 
cuted, that  the  punishment  had  ceased  to  be  a  novelty. 
Sometimes  they  were  simply  hanged ;  at  other  times 
they  were  racked,  and  then  hanged ;  and  lastly,  they 
were  racked,  had  their  larger  bones  broken,  and  were 
then  hanged.  Yet  none  of  the  various  tortures  practised 
on  the  Protestant  pastors  had  up  to  that  time  excited 
any  particular  sensation  in  Prance  itself,  and  still  less 
in  Europe. 

Cruelty  against  French  Huguenots  was  so  common 
a  thing  in  those  days,  that  few  persons  who  were  of 
any  other  religion,  or  of  no  religion  at  all,  cared  any- 
thing about  it.  The  Protestants  were  altogether 
outside  the  law.  When  a  Protestant  meeting  was 
discovered  and  surrounded,  and  men,  women,  and 
children  were  at  once  shot  down,  no  one  could  call  the 
murderers  in  question,  because  the  meetings  were 
illegal.  The  persons  taken  prisoners  at  the  meetings 
were  brought  before  the  magistrates  and  sentenced  to 
punishments  even  worse  than  death.  They  might  be 
sent  to  the  galleys,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  theii 


254  THE  HUGUENOTS.     , 

lives  amongst  thieves,  murderers,  and  assassins. 
Women  and  cliildren  found  at  sucli  meetings  might 
also  be  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Tour  de 
Constance.  There  were  even  cases  of  boj^s  of  twelve 
years  old  having  been  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life, 
because  of  having  accompanied  their  parents  to  '*  the 
Preaching. ''* 

The  same  cruelties  were  at  that  time  practised  upon  the 
common  people  generally,  whether  they  were  Huguenots 
or  not.  The  poor  creatures,  whose  only  pleasure  con- 
sisted in  sometimes  hunting  a  Protestant,  were  so  badly 
off  in  some  districts  of  France  that  they  even  fed  upon 
grass.  The  most  distressed  districts  in  France  were 
those  in  which  the  bishops  and  clergy  were  the  prin- 
cipal owners  of  land.  They  were  the  last  to  abandon 
slavery,  which  continued  upon  their  estates  until  after 
the  Revolution. 

All  these  abominations  had  grown  up  in  France, 
because  the  people  had  begun  to  lose  the  sense  of 
individual  liberty.  Louis  XIY.  had  in  his  time  pro- 
hibited the  people  from  being  of  any  religion  different 
from  his  own.  '^  His  Majesty,"  said  his  Prime 
Minister  Louvois,  "  will  not  suffer  any  person  to  remain 
in  his  kingdom  who  shall  not  be  of  his  religion."  And 
Louis  XV.  continued  the  delusion.  The  whole  of  the 
tyrannical  edicts  and  ordinances  of  Louis  XIY.  con- 
tinued to  be  maintained. 

It  was  not  that  Louis  XIY.  and  Louis  XY.  were 
kings  of  any  virtue  or  religion.  Both  were  men  of  ex- 
ceedingly immoral  habits.  We  have  elsewhere  described 
Louis  XIY.,  but  Louis  XY.,  the  Well-beloved,  was  per- 
haps .the  greatest  profligate  of  the  two.  Madame  de 
Pompadour,  when  she  ceased  to  be  his  mistress,  became 

*  Athanase  Coquerel,  "  Les  Forcats  pour  la  Foi,"  91. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS- 


53 


his  procuress.  This  infcimous  woman  had  the  command 
of  the  state  purse,  and  she  contrived  to  build  for  the 
sovereign  a  harem,  called  the  Parc-aux-Cerfs,  in  the 
park  of  YersailleSj  which  cost  the  country  at  least  a 
ho.??dred  millions  of  francs.*  The  number  of  young  girls 
taken  from  Paris  to  this  place  excited  great  public  dis- 
content ;  and  though  morals  generally  were  not  very 
high  at  that  time,  the  debauchery  and  intemperance  of 
the  King  (for  he  was  almost  constantly  drunk)  f  con- 
tributed to  alienate  the  nation,  and  to  foster  those 
feelings  of  hatred  which  broke  forth  without  restraint 
in  the  ensuing  reign. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  public  disregard  for  virtue,  a 
spirit  of  ribaldry  and  disregard  for  the  sanctions  of  re- 
ligion had  long  been  making  its  appearance  in  the 
literature  of  the  time.  The  highest  speculations  which 
can  occupy  the  attention  of  man  were  touched  with  a 
recklessness  and  power,  a  brilliancy  of  touch  and  a 
bitterness  of  satire,  which  forced  the  sceptical  pro- 
ductions of  the  day  upon  the  notice  of  all  who  studied, 
read,  or  delighted  in  literature  ; — for  those  were  the 

*  "  Madame  de  Pompadour  decouvrit  que  Louis  XV.  pourraifc  lui- 
meme  s'amuser  a  faire  reducation  de  ces  jeunes  malheureuses. 
De  petites  filles  de  neuf  a  douze  ans,  lorsqu'elles  avaient  attire  les 
regards  de  la  police  par  leurbeaute,  etaient  enlevees  a  leurs  meres  par 
plusieurs  artifices,  conduites  a  Versailles,  et  retenues  dans  les  parties 
les  plus  elevees  et  les  plus  inaccessibles  des  petits  appartements  du 

roi Le  nombre  des  malheureuses  qui  passerent  successive- 

ment  a  Parc-aux-Cerfs  est  immense ;  a  leur  sortie  elles  etaient  mariees 
a  des  hommes  vils  ou  credules  ausquels  elles  apportaient  une  bonne 
dot.  Quelques  unes  conservaient  un  traitement  fort  considerable." 
"  Les  depenses  du  Parc-aux-Cerfs,  dit  Lacratelle,  se  payaient  arec  des 
acquits  du  comptant.  II  est  difiicile  de  les  evaluer ;  mais  il  ne  peut 
y  avoir  aucune  exageration  a  afiirmer  qu'elles  coulerent  plus  de  100 
millions  a  I'Etat.  Dans  quelques  libelles  on  les  porte  jusqu'a  un 
milliard." — Sismondi,  Histoire  de  Franc^aise,  Brussels,  1844,  xx.  153-4. 
The  account  given  by  Sismondi  of  the  debauches  of  this  persecutor  of 
the  Huguenots  is  very  full.  It  is  not  given  in  the  *'  Old  Court  Life 
of  France,"  recentl}'  written  by  a  lady. 

t  Sismondi,  xx.  157. 


256  THE  HUGUENOTS, 

days  of  Yoltaire,  Eousseau,  Condorcet,  and  the  great 
men  of  ^'  The  Encyclopaedia.'' 

While  the  King  indulged  in  his  vicious  pleasures, 
and  went  reeking  from  his  debaucheries  to  obtain  ab- 
solution from  his  confessors,  the  persecution  of  the 
Protestants  went  on  as  before.  Nor  was  it  until  public 
opinion  (such  as  it  was)  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  hideous  incongruity  that  religious  persecutions 
were  at  once  brought  summarily  to  an  end. 

The  last  executions  of  Huguenots  in  France  because 
of  their  Protestantism  occurred  in  1762.  Francis 
Pochette,  a  young  pastor,  twenty-six  years  old,  was 
laid  up  by  sickness  at  Montauban.  He  recovered 
sufficiently  to  proceed  to  the  waters  of  St.  Antonin  for 
the  recovery  of  his  health,  when  he  was  seized,  together 
with  his  two  guides  or  bearers,  by  the  burgess  guard 
of  the  town  of  Caussade.  The  three  brothers  Grenier 
endeavoured  to  intercede  for  them ;  but  the  mayor  of 
Caussade,  proud  of  his  capture,  sent  the  whole  of  the 
prisoners  to  gaol. 

They  were  tried  by  the  judges  of  Toulouse  on  the 
18th  of  February.  Pochette  was  condemned  to  be 
hung  in  his  shirt,  his  head  and  feet  uncovered,  with  a 
paper  pinned  on  his  shirt  before  and  behind,  with  the 
words  written  thereon — ^^  Ministre  de  la  religion  pre- 
tcndiie  reformecy  The  three  brothers  Grenier,  who 
interfered  on  behalf  of  Pochette,  were  ordered  to  have 
their  heads  taken  off'  for  resisting  the  secular  power  ; 
and  the  two  guides,  who  were  bearing  the  sick  Pochette 
to  St.  Antonin  for  the  benefit  of  the  waters,  were  sent 
to  the  galleys  for  life. 

Barbarous  punishments  such  as  these  were  so  common 
when  Protestants  were  the  offenders,  that  the  decision 
of  the  judges  did  not  excite  any  particular  sensation. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  257 

It  was  only  when  Jean  Galas  was  shortly  after  executed 
at  Toulouse  that  an  extraordinary  sensation  was  pro- 
duced— and  that  not  because  Galas  was  a  Protestant,  but 
because  his  punishment  came  under  the  notice  of  Vol- 
taire, who  exposed  the  inhuman  cruelty  to  France, 
Europe,  and  the  world  at  large. 

The  reason  why  Protestant  executions  terminated 
with  the  death  of  Galas  was  as  follows : — The  family 
of  Jean  Galas  resided  at  Toulouse,  then  one  of  the 
most  bigoted  cities  in  France.  Toulouse  swarmed 
with  priests  and  monks,  more  Spanish  than  French 
in  their  leanings.  They  were  great  in  relics,  proces- 
sions, and  confraternities.  While  "  mealy-mouthed  " 
Gatholics  in  other  quarters  were  becoming  some- 
what ashamed  of  the  murders  perpetrated  during 
the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  were  even  dis- 
posed to  deny  them,  the  more  outspoken  Gatholics 
of  Toulouse  were  even  proud  of  the  feat,  and 
publicly  celebrated  the  great  southern  Massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew  which  took  place  in  1562.  The 
procession  then  held  was  one  of  the  finest  church 
commemorations  in  the  south ;  it  was  followed  by 
bishoj)s,  clergy,  and  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood, 
in  immense  numbers. 

Galas  was  an  old  man  of  sixty-four,  and  reduced  to 
great  weakness  by  a  paralytic  complaint.  He  and  his 
family  were  all  Protestants  excepting  one  son,  who  had 
become  a  Gatholic.  Another  of  the  sons,  however,  a 
man  of  ill- regulated  life,  dissolute,  and  involved  in 
pecuniary  difficulties,  committed  suicide  by  hanging 
himself  in  an  outhouse. 

On  this,  the  brotherhood  of  AVliite  Penitents  stirred 
up  a  great  fury  against  the  Protestant  family  in  the 
minds  of  the  populace.     The  monks  alleged  that  Jean 


258  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Calas  Iiad  murdered  his  son  because  lie  wished  to 
become  a  Catholic.  They  gave  out  that  it  was  a 
practice  of  the  Protestants  to  keep  an  executioner 
to  murder  their  children  who  washed  to  abjure  the 
reformed  faith,  and  that  one  of  the  objects  of  the 
meetings  w^hich  they  held  in  the  Desert,  was  to  elect 
this  executioner.  The  "White  Penitents  celebrated 
mass  for  the  suicide's  soul ;  they  exhibited  his  figure 
with  a  palm  branch  in  his  hand,  and  treated  him  as  a 
mart3'r. 

The  public  mind  became  inflamed.  A  fanatical 
judge,  called  David,  took  up  the  case,  and  ordered 
Calas  and  his  whole  family  to  be  sent  to  prison. 
Calas  was  tried  by  the  court  of  Toulouse.  They  tortured 
the  whole  family  to  compel  them  to  confess  the  murder  ;* 
but  they  did  not  confess.  The  court  Avished  to  burn 
the  mother,  but  they  ended  by  condemning  the  paral3'tic 
father  to  be  broken  alive  on  the  w^heel.f  The  parlia- 
ment of  Toulouse  confirmed  the  atrocious  sentence,  and 
the  old  man  perished  in  torments,  declaring  to  the  last 
his  entire  innocence.  The  rest  of  the  family  were 
discharged,  although  if  there  had  been  any  truth  in 
the  charge  for  which  Jean  Calas  was  racked  to  death, 

*  Sismondi,  xx.  328. 

t  To  be  broken  alive  on  the  wheel  was  one  of  the  most  horrible  of 
tortures,  a  bequest  from  ages  of  violence  and  barbarism.  It  was 
preserved  in  France  mainly  for  the  punishment  of  Protestants.  The 
prisoner  wasextended  on  a  St.  Andrew's  cross,  with  eight  notches  cut  on  it 
— one  below  each  arm  between  the  elbow  and  wrist,  another  between 
each  elbow  and  the  shoulders,  one  under  each  thigh,  and  one  under 
each  leg.  The  executioner,  armed  with  a  heavy  triangular  bar  of 
iron,  gave  a  heavy  blow  on  each  of  these  eight  places,  and  broke  the 
bone.  Another  blow  was  given  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach.  The 
mangled  victim  was  lifted,  from  the  cross  and  stretched  on  a  small 
wheel  placed  vertically  at  one  of  the  ends  of  the  cross,  his  back  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  wheel,  his  head  and  feet  hanging  down.  There  the 
tortured  creature  hung  until  he  died.  Some  lingered  five  or  six 
hours,  others  much  longer.  This  horrible  method  of  torture  waa 
only  abolished  at  the  French  Eevolution  in  1700. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  259 

tbey  must  necessarily  have  been  his  accomplices,  and 
equally  liable  to  punishment. 

The  ruined  family  left  Toulouse  and  made  for  Geneva, 
then  the  head-quarters  of  Protestants  from  the  South  of 
France.  And  here  it  was  that  the  murder  of  Jean 
Galas  and  the  misfortunes  of  the  Galas  family  came 
under  the  notice  of  Yoltuire,  then  living  at  Fernev, 
near  Geneva. 

In  the  midst  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Protestants  a 
great  many  changes  had  been  going  on  in  France. 
Although  the  clergy  had  for  more  than  a  century  the 
sole  control  of  the  religious  education  of  the  people,  the 
people  had  not  become  religious.  They  had  become 
very  ignorant  and  very  fanatical.  The  upper  classes 
were  anything  but  religious ;  they  were  given  up  for 
the  most  part  to  frivolity  and  libertinage.  The  ex- 
amples of  their  kings  had  been  freely  followed.  Though 
ready  to  do  honour  to  the  court  religion,  the  higher 
classes  did  not  believe  in  it.  The  press  was  very  free  for 
the  publication  of  licentious  and  immoral  books,  but  not 
for  Protestant  Bibles.  A  great  work  was,  however,  in 
course  of  publication,  under  the  editorship  of  D'Alem- 
bert  and  Diderot,  to  which  Voltaire,  Pousseau,  and 
others  contributed,  entitled  "  The  Encj^clopoedia."  It 
was  a  description  of  the  entire  circle  of  human  know- 
ledge ;  but  the  dominant  idea  which  pervaded  it  was  the 
utter  subversion  of  religion. 

The  abuses  of  the  Ghurch,  its  tj'ranny  and  cruelt}^, 
the  ignorance  and  helplessness  in  which  it  kept  the 
people,  the  frivolity  and  unbelief  of  the  clergy  them- 
selves, had  already  condemned  it  in  the  minds  of  the 
nation.  The  writers  in  "  The  Encyclopaedia  "  merely 
gave  expression  to  their  views,  and  the  publication  of 
its  successive  numbers  was  received  with  rapture.     In 


26o  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

the  midst  -of  tlie  free  publication  of  obscene  books, 
tbere  bad  also  appeared,  before  the  execution  of 
Galas,  tbe  Marquis  de  Mirabeau's  *'  Ami  de  Hommes," 
Rousseau's  ^'  Emile,"  tbe  "  Contrat  Sociale,"  witb 
other  works,  denying  religion  of  all  kinds,  and 
pointing  to  the  general  downfall,  which  was  now  fast 
approaching. 

When  the  Galas  family  took  refuge  in  Geneva, 
"Voltaire  soon  heard  of  their  story.  It  was  communi- 
cated to  him  by  M.  de  Yegobre,  a  French  refugee. 
After  he  had  related  it,  Yoltaire  said,  '*  This  is  a  horrible 
story.  What  has  become  of  the  family  ? "  "  They 
arrived  in  Geneva  only  three  days  ago."  *'  In  Geneva  !  *' 
said  Yoltaire ;  '^  then  let  me  see  them  at  once."  Madame 
Galas  soon  arrived,  told  him  the  whole  facts  of  the  case, 
and  convinced  Yoltaire  of  the  entire  innocence  of  the 
famil3^ 

Yoltaire  was  no  friend  of  the  Huguenots.  He  be- 
lieved the  Huguenot  spirit  to  be  a  republican  spirit. 
In  his  ''  Siecle  de  Louis  XI Y.,"  when  treating  of  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Xantes,  he  affirmed  that 
the  Reformed  were  the  enemies  of  the  State ;  and 
though  he  depicted  feelingly  the  cruelties  they  had 
suifered,  he  also  stated  clearly  that  he  thought  they 
had  deserved  them.  Yoltaire  probably  owed  his  hatred 
of  the  Protestants  to  the  Jesuits,  by  whom  he  was 
educated.  He  was  brought  up  at  the  Jesuit  Gollege  of 
Louis  le  Grand,  the  chief  persecutor  of  the  Huguenots. 
Yoltaire  also  owed  much  of  the  looseness  of  his  prin- 
ciples to  his  godfather,  the  Abbe  Ghateauneuf,  grand- 
prior  of  Yendome,  the  Abbe  de  Ghalieu,  and  others, 
who  educated  him  in  an  utter  contempt  for  the  doctrines 
they  were  appointed  and  paid  to  teach.  It  was  when 
but  a  mere  youth  that  Father  Lejay,  one  of  Yoltaire's 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS,  261 

instructors,  predicted  that  lie  would  yet  be  tlie  Cory- 
phceus  of  Deism  in  France. 

JN^or  was  Yoltaire  better  pleased  with,  tbe  Swiss  Calvin- 
ists.  He  encountered  some  of  tbe  most  pedantic  of  tbem 
wbile  residing  at  Lausanne  and  Geneva.*  At  tbe  latter 
place,  be  covered  witb  sarcasm  tbe  "twenty-four  peri- 
wigs"— tbe  Protestant  council  of  tbe  cit3^  Tbey 
would  not  allow  bim  to  set  up  a  tbeatre  in  Greneva,  so 
lie  determined  to  set  up  one  bimself  at  La  Cbatelaine, 
about  a  mile  off,  but  beyond  tbe  Genevese  frontier. 
His  object,  be  professed,  was  "to  corrupt  tbe  pedantic 
city."  Tbe  tbeatre  is  still  standing,  tbougb  it  is  now 
used  only  as  a  bayloft.  Tbe  box  is  preserved  from 
wbicb.  Yoltaire  cbeered  tbe  performance  of  his  own  and 
other  plays. 

But  though  Yoltaire  hated  Protestantism  like  every 
other  religion,  he  also  hated  injustice.  It  was  because 
of  this  that  he  took  up  the  case  of  the  Galas  family,  so 
soon  as  he  had  become  satisfied  of  their  innocence. 
But  what  a  difficulty  he  had  to  encounter  in  endeavour- 
ing to  upset  the  decision  of  the  judges,  and  the  con- 
demnation of  Galas  by  the  parliament  of  Toulouse. 
Moreover,  he  had  to  reverse  their  decision  against  a 
dead  man,  and  that  man  a  detested  Huguenot. 

Nevertheless  Yoltaire  took  up  the  case.  He  wrote 
letters  to  his  friends  in  all  parts  of  France.  He  wrote 
to  the  sovereigns  of  Europe.  He  published  letters  in 
the  newspapers.  He  addressed  the  Duke  de  Ghoiseul, 
the  King's  Secretary  of  State.     He  appealed  to  philo- 


*  While  Voltaire  lived  at  Lausanne,  one  of  the  baillies  (the  chiet 
magistrates  of  the  city)  said  to  him  :  '*  Monsieur  de  Voltaire,  they  say 
that  you  have,  written  against  the  good  God  :  it  is  very  wrong,  but  I 

hope  He  will  pardon  you But,  Monsieur  de  Voltaire,  take 

very  good  care  not  to  write  against  their  excellencies  of  Berne,  our 
sovereign  lords,  for  be  assured  that  they  will  never  forgive  you." 


262  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

sophers,  to  men  of  letters,  to  ladies  of  the  court,  and 
even  to  priests  and  bishops,  denouncing  the  sentence 
pronounced  against  Galas, — the  most  iniquitous,  he  said, 
that  any  court  professing  to  act  in  the  name  of  justice 
had  ever  pronounced.  Ferney  was  visited  by  many 
foreignei'S,  from  Germany,  America,  England,  and 
Eussia  ;  as  well  as  by  numerous  persons  of  influence  in 
France.  To  all  these  he  spoke  vehemently  of  Galas 
and  his  sentence.  He  gave  himself  no  rest  until  he 
had  inflamed  the  minds  of  all  men  against  the  horrible 
injustice. 

At  length,  the  case  of  Galas  became  kno-^^Ti  all  over 
France,  and  in  fact  all  over  Europe.  The  press  of 
Paris  rang  with  it.  In  the  boudoirs  and  salons,  Galas 
was  the  subject  of  conversation.  In  the  streets,  men 
meeting  each  other  would  ask,  *'  Have  you  heard  of 
Galas?'"'  The  dead  man  had  already  become  a  hero 
and  a  martvr  I 

An  important  point  was  next  reached.  It  was 
decided  that  the  case  of  Galas  should  be  remitted  to  a 
special  court  of  judges  appointed  to  consider  the  whole 
matter.  Yoltaire  himself  proceeded  to  get  up  the  case. 
He  prepared  and  revised  the  memorials,  he  revised  all 
the  pleadings  of  the  advocates,  transforming  them  into 
brief,  conclusive  arguments,  sparkling  wdth  wit,  reason, 
and  eloquence.  The  re^^sion  of  the  process  commenced. 
The  people  held  their  breaths  while  it  proceeded. 

At  length,  in  the  spring  of  1766 — four  years  after 
Galas  had  been  broken  to  death  on  the  wheel — four 
years  after  Yoltaire  had  undertaken  to  have  the  unjust 
decision  of  the  Toulouse  magistrates  and  parliament 
reversed,  the  court  of  judges,  after  going  completely 
over  the  evidence,  pronounced  the  judgment  to  have 
been  entirely  unfounded! 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  263 

Tlie  decree  was  accordingly  reversed.  Jean  Galas  was 
declared  to  liave  been  innocent.  The  man  was,  how- 
ever, dead.  But  in  order  to  compensate  his  family,  the 
ministry  granted  36,000  francs  to  Calas's  widow,  on 
the  express  recommendation  of  the  court  which  re- 
versed the  abominable  sentence.* 

The  French  people  never  forgot  Voltaire's  efforts  in 
this  cause.  Notwithstanding  all  his  offences  against 
morals  and  religion,  Voltaire  on  this  occasion  acted  on 
his  best  impulses.  Many  years  after,  in  1778,  he 
visited  Paris,  where  he  was  received  with  immense 
enthusiasm.  He  was  followed  in  the  streets  wherever 
he  went.  One  day  when  passing  along  the  Pont 
Royal,  some  person  asked,  ''Who  is  that  man  the 
crowd  is  following  ?''  "Ne  savez  vous  pas,"  answered 
a  common  woman,  "que  c'est  le  sauveur  de  Galas!" 
Voltaire  was  more  touched  with  this  simple  tribute  to 
his  fame  than  with  all  the  adoration  of  the  Parisians. 

It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  there  were  many 
persons  still  suffering  in  France  from  the  cruelty  of 
priests  and  judges ;  and  one  of  these  occurred  shortly 
after  the  death  of  Galas.  One  of  the  ordinary  practices 
of  the  Gatholics  was  to  seize  the  children  of  Protestants 
and  carry  them  off  to  some  nunnery  to  be  educated  at 
the  expense  of  their  parents.  The  priests  of  Toulouse 
had  obtained  a  lettre  de  cachet  to  take  away  the  daughter 
of  a  Protestant  named  Sirven,  to  compel  her  to  change 
her  religion.  She  was  accordingly  seized  and  carried 
off  to  a  nunnery.  She  manifested  such  reluctance  to 
embrace  Gatholicism,  and  she  was  treated  with  such 
cruelty,  that  she  fled  from  the  convent  in  the  night, 
and  fell  into  a  well,  where  she  was  found  drowned. 

*  It  may  be  added  that,  after  the  reversal  of  the  sentence,  David, 
the  judge  who  had  first  condemned  Galas,  went  insane,  and  died  in  a 
madhouse. 


264  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

The  prejudices  of  tlie  Catholic  bigots  being  very 
mucli  excited  about  this  time  by  the  case  of  Galas, 
blamed  the  family  of  Sirven  (in  the  same  manner  as 
they  had  done  that  of  Galas)  with  murdering  their 
daughter.  Foreseeing  that  they  would  be  apprehended 
if  they  remained,  the  whole  family  left  the  city,  and 
set  out  for  Geneva.  After  they  left,  Sirven  was  in 
fact  sentenced  to  death  par  contiimace.  It  was  about 
the  middle  of  winter  when  they  set  out,  and  Sirven's  wife 
died  of  cold  on  the  way,  amidst  the  snows  of  the  Jura. 

On  his  arrival  at  Geneva,  Sirven  stated  his  case  to 
Yoltaire,  who  took  it  up  as  he  had  done  that  of  Galas. 
He  exerted  himself  as  before.  Advocates  of  the  highest 
rank  offered  to  conduct  Sirven's  case  ;  for  public  opinion 
had  already  made  considerable  progress.  Sirven  was 
advised  to  return  to  Toulouse,  and  offer  himself  as  a 
prisoner.  He  did  so.  The  case  was  tried  with  the 
same  results  as  before ;  the  advocates,  acting  under 
Voltaire's  instructions  and  with  his  help,  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  judges'  unanimous  decision  that  Sirven 
was  innocent  of  the  crime  for  which  he  had  already 
been  sentenced  to  death. 

After  this,  there  were  no  further  executions  of  Pro- 
testants in  France.  But  what  became  of  the  Huguenots 
at  the  galleys,  who  still  continued  to  endure  a  punish- 
ment from  day  to  day,  even  worse  than  death  itself?  * 

*  The  Hiiguenots  sometimes  owed  their  release  from  the  galleys  to 
money  payments  made  by  Protestants  (but  this  was  done  secretly), 
the  price  of  a  galley-slave  being  about  a  thousand  crowns;  sometimes 
they  owed  it  to  the  influence  of  Protestant  princes ;  but  never  to 
the  voluntary  mercy  of  the  Catholics.  In  1742,  while  France  was  at 
war  with  England,  and  Prussia  was  quietly  looking  on,  Antoine 
Qourt  made  an  appeal  to  Frederick  the  Great,  and  at  his  interven- 
tion with  Louis  XV.  thirty  galley-slaves  were  liberated.  The 
Margrave  of  Bayreuth,  Culmbach  and  his  wife,  the  sister  of  the 
Great  Frederick,  afterwards  visited  the  galleys  at  Toulon,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  liberation  of  several  galley-slaves. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  265 

Altliougli  they  Avere  often  cut  off  by  fever,  starvation, 
and  exposure,  many  of  tliem  contrived  to  live  on  to  a 
considerable  age.  After  the  trials  of  Galas  and  Sirven, 
the  punishment  of  the  gallej^s  was  evidently  drawing 
to  an  end.  Only  two  persons  were  sent  to  the  galleys 
during  the  year  in  which  Pastor  Kochette  was  hanged. 
But  a  circumstance  came  to  light  respecting  one  of  the 
galley-slaves  who  had  been  liberated  in  that  very  year 
(1762),  which  had  the  effect  of  eventually  putting  an 
end  to  the  cruelty. 

The  punishment  was  not,  however,  abolished  by 
Christian  feeling,  or  by  greater  humanity  on  the  part 
of  the  Catholics  ;  nor  was  it  abolished  through  the 
ministers  of  justice,  and  still  less  by  the  order  of  the 
King.  It  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  Stage !  As 
Yoltaire,  the  Deist,  terminated  the  hanging  of  Pro- 
testants, so  did  Fenouillot,  the  player,  put  an  end  to 
their  serving  as  galley-slaves.  The  termination  of  this 
latter  punishment  has  a  curious  history  attached  to  it. 

It  happened  that  a  Huguenot  meeting  for  worship 
was  held  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Msmes,  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  1756.  The  place  of  meeting  was  called 
the  Lecque,*  situated  immediately  north  of  the  Tour 
Magne,  from  which  the  greater  part  of  the  city  has 
been  built.  It  was  a  favourable  place  for  holding- 
meetings  ;  but  it  was  not  so  favourable  for  those  who 
wished  to  escape.  The  assembly  had  scarcely  been 
constituted  by  prayer,  when  the  alarm  was  given  that 
the  soldiers  were  upon  them !  The  people  fled  on  all 
sides.  The  youngest  and  most  agile  made  their  escape 
by  climbing  the  surrounding  rocks. 

Amongst  these,  Jean  Fabre,  a  young  silk  merchant 

*  This  secret  meeting-place  of  the  Huguenots  is  well  known  from 
the  engraved  picture  oi  Buze. 


266  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

of  Nismes,  was  already  beyond  reacli  of  danger,  wlien  lie 
lieard  that  his  father  had  been  made  a  prisoner.  The 
old  man,  who  was  seventy -eight,  could  not  climb  as 
the  others  had  done,  and  the  soldiers  had  taken  him 
and  were  leading  him  away.  The  son,  who  knew  that 
his  father  would  be  sentenced  to  the  galleys  for  life, 
immediately  determined,  if  possible,  to  rescue  him  from 
this  horrible  fate.  He  returned  to  the  group  of  soldiers 
who  had  his  father  in  charge,  and  asked  them  to  take 
him  prisoner  in  his  place.  On  their  refusal,  he  seized 
his  father  and  drew  him  from  their  grasp,  insisting 
upon  them  taking  himself  instead.  The  sergeant  in 
command  at  first  refused  to  adopt  this  strange  sub- 
stitution ;  but,  conquered  at  last  by  the  tears  and 
prayers  of  the  son,  he  liberated  the  aged  man  and 
accepted  Jean  Fabre  as  his  prisoner. 

Jean  Fabre  was  first  imprisoned  at  Nismes,  where  he 
was  prevented  seeing  any  of  his  friends,  including  a  cer- 
tain young  lady  to  whom  he  was  about  shortly  to  be 
married.  lie  was  then  transferred  to  Montpellier  to 
be  judged;  where,  of  course,  he  was  condemned,  as  he 
expected,  to  be  sent  to  the  galleys  for  life.  With  this 
dreadful  prospect  before  him,  of  separation  from  all  that 
he  loved — from  his  father,  for  whom  he  was  about  to  suffer 
so  much  ;  from  his  betrothed,  who  gave  up  all  hope  of 
ever  seeing  him  again — and  having  no  prospect  of 
being  relieved  from  his  horrible  destiny,  his  spirits 
failed,  and  he  became  seriouslj''  ill.  But  his  youth  and 
Christian  resignation  came  to  his  aid,  and  he  finally 
recovered. 

The  Protestants  of  Nismes, .  and  indeed  of  all 
Languedoc,  were  greatly  moved  by  the  fate  of  Jean 
Fabre.  The  heroism  of  his  devotion  to  his  parent  soon 
became  known,  and  the  name  of  the  volunteer  convict 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  267 

was  in  every  nioutL.  The  Due  de  Mirepoix,  then  gover- 
nor of  the  province,  endeavoured  to  turn  the  popular 
feeling  to  some  account.  He  offered  pardon  to  Fabre 
and  Turgis  (who  had  been  taken  prisoner  with  him) 
provided  Paul  Ilabaut,  the  chief  pastor  of  the  Desert, 
a  hard-working  and  indefatigable  man,  would  leave 
France  and  reside  abroad.  But  neither  Fabre,  nor 
Rabaut,  nor  the  Huguenots  generally,  had  any  confi- 
dence in  the  mercy  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  proposal 
w^as  coldly  declined. 

Fabre  was  next  sent  to  Toulon  under  a  strong  escort 

of  cavalry.     He  was  there  registered  in  the    class  of 

conA'icts ;  his  hair  was  cut  close ;  he  was  clothed  in  the 

ignominious  dress  of  the  galley-slave,  and  placed  in  a 

galley  among  murderers  and  criminals,  where  he  was 

chained  to  one  of  the  worst.     The  dinner  consisted  of  a  , 

porridge  of  cooked  beans  and  black  bread.     At  first  he 

could  not  touch  it,  and  preferred  to  suffer  hunger.     A 

friend  of  Fabre,  who  was  informed  of  his  starvation, 

sent  him  some  food  more  savoury  and  digestible ;  but 

his  stomach  was  in  such  a  state  that  he  coidd  not  eat 

even  that.     At  length  he  became   accustomed   to  the 

situation,  though  the  place  was  a  sort  of  hell,  in  which 

he  was  surrounded   by    criminals   in   rags,    dirt,    and 

vermin,    and,    worst    of  all,    distinguished   for    their 

abominable  vileness  of  speech.      He  was  shortly  after 

se'zed  with   a  serious  illness,    when   he   was    sent    to 

the     hospital,     where     he     found     many     Huguenot 

convicts   imprisoned,    like   himself,   because    of    their 

religion.* 

Repeated  applications  were  made  to  Saint-Florentin, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  by  Fabre's   relatives,   friends, 

*  Letter  of  Jean  Falre,  in  Alhanass  Cocoaerel  8  "  Forcals  pour  la 
Foi,"  201  3 


268  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

and  fellow  Protestants  for  his  liberation,  but  without 
result.  After  lie  bad  been  imprisoned  for  some  years, 
a  circumstance  happened  which  more  than  anything 
else  exasperated  his  sufferings.  The  young  lady  to 
whom  he  was  eugaged  had  an  offer  of  marriage  made 
to  her  by  a  desirable  person,  which  her  friends  were 
anxious  that  she  should  accept.  Her  father  had  been 
struck  by  paralysis,  and  was  poor  and  unable  to  main- 
tain himself  as  well  as  his  daughter.  He  urged  that 
she  should  give  up  Fabre,  now  hopelessly  imprisoned 
for  life,  and  accept  her  new  lover. 

Fabre  himself  was  consulted  on  the  subject ;  his  con- 
science was  appealed  to,  and  how  did  he  decide  ?  It 
was  only  after  the  bitterest  struggle,  that  he  determined 
on  liberating  his  betrothed.  He  saw  no  prospect  of 
his  release,  and  why  should  he  sacrifice  her  ?  Let  her 
no  longer  be  bound  up  with  his  fearful  fate,  but  be 
happy  with  another  if  she  could. 

The  young  lady  yielded,  though  not  without  great 
misgivings.  The  day  for  her  marriage  with  her  new 
lover  was  fixed  ;  but,  at  the  last  moment,  she  relented. 
Her  faithfulness  and  love  for  the  heroic  galley-slave 
had  never  been  shaken,  and  she  resolved  to  remain 
constant  to  him,  to  remain  unmarried  if  need  be,  or 
to  wait  for  his  liberation  until  death  ! 

It  is  probable  that  her  noble  decision  determined 
Fabre  and  Fabre's  friends  to  make  a  renewed  effort  for 
his  liberation.  At  last,  after  having  been  more  than 
six  years  a  galley-slave,  he  bethought  him  of  a  method 
of  obtaining  at  least  a  temporary  liberty.  He  proposed 
— without  appealing  to  Saint-Florentin,  who  was  the 
bitter  enemy  of  the  Protestants — to  get  his  case  made 
known  to  the  Due  de  Choiseul,  Minister  of  Marine. 
This  nobleman  was  a  just  man,   and  it  had  been  in  a 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  269 

great  measure  througli  liis  influence  that  the  j  udgment 
of  Galas  had  been  reconsidered  and  reversed. 

Fabre,  while  on  the  rowers'  bench,  had  often  met 
with  a  M.  Johannot,  a  French  Protestant,  settled  at 
Frankfort-on-Maine,  to  whom  he  stated  his  case.  It 
may  be  mentioned  that  Huguenot  refugees,  on  their 
visits  to  France,  often  visited  the  Protestant  prisoners 
at  the  galleys,  relieved  their  wants,  and  made  inter- 
cession for  them  with  the  outside  world.  It  may  also 
be  incidentally  mentioned  that  this  M.  Johannot  was 
the  ancestor  of  two  well-known  painters  and  designers, 
Alfred  and  Tony,  who  have  been  the  illustrators  of  some 
of  our  finest  artistic  works. 

Johannot  made  the  case  of  Fabre  known  to  some 
French  officers  whom  he  met  at  Frankfort,  interested 
them  greatly  in  his  noble  character  and  self-sacrifice, 
and  the  result  was  that  before  long  Fabre  obtained, 
directly  from  the  Due  de  Choiseul,  leave  of  absence 
from  the  position  of  galley-slave.  The  annoyance  of 
Saint-Florentin,  Minister  of  State,  was  so  well-known, 
that  Fabre,  on  his  liberation,  was  induced  to  conceal 
himself.  Nor  could  he  yet  marry  his  promised  wife,  as 
he  had  not  been  discharged,  but  was  only  on  leave  of 
absence;  and  Saint-Florentin  obstinately  refused  to  re- 
verse the  sentence  that  had  been  pronounced  against  him. 

In  the  meantime,  Fabre's  name  was  becoming  cele- 
brated. He  had  no  idea,  while  privately  settled  at 
Ganges  as  a  silk  stocking  maker,  that  great  peoj)le  in 
France  were  interesting  themselves  about  his  fate.  The 
Duchesse  de  Grammont,  sister  of  the  Due  de  Choiseul, 
had,  heard  about  him  from  her  brother  ;  and  the  Prince 
de  Beauvau,  governor  of  Languedoc,  the  Duchesse  de 
Yilleroy,  and  many  other  distinguished  personages, 
were  celebrating  his  heroism. 


270  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Inquiry  was  made  of  the  sergeant  who  had  originally 
apprehended  Fabre,  npon  his  offering  himself  in 
exchange  for  his  father  (long  since  dead),  and  the 
sergeant  confirmed  the  truth  of  the  noble  and  generous 
act.  At  the  same  time,  M.  Alison,  first  consul  at 
Msmes,  confirmed  the  statement  by  three  witnesses,  in 
presence  of  the  secretary  of  the  Prince  de  Beauvau. 
The  result  was,  that  Jean  Fabre  was  completely 
exonerated  from  the  charge  on  account  of  which  he 
had  been  sent  to  the  galleys.  He  was  now  a  free  man, 
and  at  last  married  the  young  lady  who  had  loved  him 
so  long  and  so  devotedly. 

One  day,  to  his  extreme  surprise,  Fabre  received 
from  the  Due  de  Choiseul  a  packet  containing  a  drama, 
in  which  he  found  his  own  history  related  in  verse,  by 
Fenouillot  de  Falbaire.  It  was  entitled  ''  The  Honest 
Criminal."  Fabre  had  never  been  a  criminal,  except 
in  worshipping  God  according  to  his  conscience, 
though  that  had  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  been  pro- 
nounced a  crime  by  the  law  of  France. 

The  piece,  which  was  of  no  great  merit  as  a  tragedy, 
was  at  first  played  before  the  Duchesse  de  Yilleroy  and 
her  friends,  with  great  applause  Mdlle.  Clairon 
playing  the  principal  female  part.  Saint-Florentin 
prohibited  the  playing  of  the  piece  in  public,  protesting 
to  the  last  against  the  work  and  the  author.  Voltaire 
played  it  at  Ferney,  and  Queen  Marie  Antoinette  had 
it  played  in  her  presence  at  Yersailles.  It  was  not 
until  1789  that  the  piece  was  played  in  the  theatres  of 
Paris,  when  it  had  a  considerable  success. 

We  do  not  find  that  any  Protestants  were  sent  to 
be  galley-slaves  after  1762,  the  year  that  Galas  was 
executed.  A  reaction  against  this  barbarous  method  of 
treating  men  for  differences  of  opinion  seems  to  have 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  271 

set  in  ;  or,  perhaps,  it  was  because  most  men  were 
ceasing  to  belieye  in  the  miraculous  powers  of  the 
priests,  for  which  the  Protestants  had  so  long  been 
hanged  and  made  galley-slaves. 

After  the  liberation  of  Fabre  in  1762,  other  galley- 
slaves  were  liberated  from  time  to  time.  Thus,  in  the 
same  3''ear,  Jean  Albiges  and  Jean  Barran  were  liberated 
after  eight  years  of  convict  life.  They  had  been  con- 
demned for  assisting  at  Protestant  assemblies.  Next 
year,  ITaurice  was  liberated ;  he  had  been  condemned 
for  life  for  the  same  reason. 

While  Yoltaire  had  been  engaged  in  the  case  of 
Galas  he  asked  the  Due  de  Choiseul  for  the  liberation  of 
a  galley-slave.  The  man  for  whom  he  interceded,  had 
been  a  convict  twenty  years  for  attending  a  Protestant 
meeting.  Of  course,  Yoltaire  cared  nothing  for  his 
religion,  believing  Catholicism  and  Protestantism  to  be, 
only  two  forms  of  the  same  superstition.  The  name  of 
this  galley-slave  was  Claude  Chaumont.  Like  nearly 
all  the  other  convicts  he  was  a  working  man — a  little 
dark-faced  shoemaker.  Some  Protestant  friends  he  had 
at  Geneva  interceded  with  Yoltaire  for  his  liberation. 

On  Chaumont's  release  in  1764,  he  waited  upon  his 
deliverer  to  thank  him.  "  What !  "  said  Yoltaire,  on 
first  seeing  him,  "  my  poor  little  bit  of  a  man,  have  they 
put  you  in  the  galleys  ?  What  could  they  have  done 
with  you  ?  The  idea  of  sending  a  little  creature 
to  the  galley-chain,  for  no  other  crime  than  that  of 
praying  to  God  in  bad  French  !  ^'  *  Yoltaire  ended 
by  handing  the  impoverished  fellow  a  sum  of  money 
to  set  him  up  in  the  world  agaiu,  when  he  left  the 
house  the  happiest  of  men. 
We  may  briefly  mention  a  few  of  the  last  of  the 
*  "Yoltaire  et  les  Genevois,"  par  J.  Guberel,  7i-j. 


272  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

galley-slaves.  Daniel  Bic  and  Jean  Cabdie,  liberated 
in  1764,  for  attending  religious  meetings.  Both,  were 
condemned  for  life,  and  had  been  at  the  galley-chain 
for  ten  years. 

Jean  Pierre  Espinas,  an  attorney,  of  St.  Felix  de 
Chateauneuf,  in  Yiverais,  who  had  been  condemned  for 
life  for  having  given  shelter  to  a  pastor,  was  released 
in  1765,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  after  being  chained 
at  the  galleys  for  twenty- five  years. 

Jean  Raj^mond,  of  Fangeres,  the  father  of  six  chil- 
dren, who  had  been  a  galley-slave  for  thirteen  years, 
was  liberated  in  1767.  Alexandre  Chambon,  a  labourer, 
more  than  eighty  years  old,  condemned  for  life  in  1741, 
for  attending  a  religious  meeting,  was  released  in  1769, 
on  the  entreaty  of  Yoltaire,  after  being  a  galley-slave 
for  twenty-eight  years.  His  friends  had  forgotten 
him,  and  on  his  release  he  was  utterly  destitute  and 
miserable.* 

In  1772,  three  galley-slaves  were  liberated  from  their 
chains.  Andre  Guisard,  a  labourer,  aged  eighty-two, 
Jean  Roque,  and  Louis  Tregon,  of  the  same  class,  all 
condemned  for  life  for  attending  religious  meetings. 
They  had  all  been  confined  at  the  chain  for  twenty 
years. 

The  two  last  galley-slaves  were  liberated  in  1775, 
during  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XYL,  and 
close  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution. 
They  had  been  quite  forgotten,  until  Court  de  Gebclin, 
son  of  Antoine  Court,  discovered  them.  When  he 
applied  for  their  release  to  M.  de  Boyne,  Minister  of 
Marine,  he  answered  that  there  were  no  more  Pro- 
testant convicts  at  the  galleys ;  at  least,  he  believed  so. 

*  "  Lettres  inedites  des  Yoltaire,"  publiees  par  Athanase  Coqueiel 
fils,  24?. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  273 

Shortly  after,  Turgot  succeeded  Boyne,  and  application 
was  made  to  him.  He  answered  that  there  was  no  need 
to  recommend  such  objects  to  him  for  liberation,  as  they 
were  liberated  already. 

On  the  two  old  men  being  told  they  were  released, 
they  burst  into  tears  ;  but  were  almost  afraid  of  return- 
ing to  the  world  which  no  longer  knew  them.  One  of 
them  was  Antoine  Rialle,  a  tailor  of  Aoste,  in  Dau- 
phin y,  who  had  been  condemned  by  the  parliament  of 
Grenoble  to  the  galleys  for  life  "  for  contravening  the 
edicts  of  the  King  concerning  religion."  He  was 
seventy-eight  years  old,  and  had  been  a  galley-slave  for 
thirty  years. 

The  other,  Paul  Achard,  had  been  a  shoemaker  of 
Chatillon,  also  in  Dauphiny.  He  was  condemned  to  be 
a  galley-slave  for  life  by  the  parliament  of  Grenoble, 
for  having  given  shelter  to  a  pastor.  x4.chard  had  also 
been  confined  at  the  galleys  for  thirty  years. 

It  is  not  known  when  the  last  Huguenot  women  were 
liberated  from  the  Tour  de  Constance,  at  Aiguesmorts. 
It  would  probably  be  about  the  time  when  the  last 
Huguenots  were  liberated  from  the  galleys.  An  affect- 
ing picture  has  been  left  by  an  officer  who  visited 
the  prison  at  the  release  of  the  last  prisoners.  "  I 
accompanied,"  he  says,  "  the  Prince  de  Beauveau  (the 
intendant  of  Languedoc  under  Louis  XYI.)  in  a  sur- 
vey Avhich  he  made  of  the  coast.  Arriving  at  Aigues- 
morts, at  the  gate  of  the  Tour  de  Constance,  we  found 
at  the  entrance  the  principal  keeper,  who  conducted  us 
by  dark  steps  through  a  great  gate,  which  opened  with 
an  ominous  noise,  and  over  which  was  inscribed  a  motto 
from  Dante — '  Lasciate  ogni  speranza  voi  che'ntrate.' 

*'  Words  fail  me  to  describe  the  horror  with  which  we 
regarded  a  scene  to  which  we  were  so  unaccustomed — 


274  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

a  frightful  and  affecting  picture,  in  which  the  interest 
was  heightened  by  disgust.  We  beheld  a  large  circular 
apartment,  deprived  of  air  and  of  light,  in  which 
fourteen  females  still  languished  in  misery.  It  was 
with  difficulty  that  the  Prince  smothered  his  emo- 
tion ;  and  doubtless  it  was  the  first  time  that  these 
unfortunate  creatures  had  there  witnessed  compassion 
depicted  upon  a  human  countenance ;  I  still  seem  to 
behold  the  affecting  apparition.  They  fell  at  our  feet, 
bathed  in  tears,  and  speechless,  until,  emboldened  by 
our  expressions  of  sympathy,  they  recounted  to  us  their 
sufferings.  Alas !  all  their  crime  consisted  in  having 
been  attached  to  the  same  religion  as  Henry  lY.  The 
youngest  of  these  martyrs  was  more  than  fifty  years  old. 
She  was  but  eight  when  first  imprisoned  for  having 
accompanied  her  mother  to  hear  a  religious  service,  and 
her  punishment  had  continued  until  now  !  "  * 

After  the  liberation  of  the  last  of  the  galley-slaves 
there  were  no  further  apprehensions  nor  punishments 
of  Protestants.  The  priests  had  lost  their  power  ;  and 
the  secular  authority  no  longer  obej^ed  their  behests. 
The  nation  had  ceased  to  believe  in  theih  ;  in  some 
places  they  were  laughed  at ;  in  others  they  were  de- 
tested. They  owed  this  partly  to  their  cruelty  and 
intolerance,  partly  to  their  luxury  and  self-indulgence 
amidst  the  poverty  of  the  people,  and  partly  to  the 
sarcasms  of  the  philosophers,  who  had  become  more 
powerful  in  Prance  than  themselves.  *'  It  is  not 
enough,"  said  Yoltaire,  *'  that  we  prove  intolerance  to 
be  horrible  ;  we  must  also  prove  to  the  French  that  it 
is  ridiculous." 

In  looking  back  at  the  sufferings  of  the  Huguenots 
remainino:  in  France  since  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
*  Froissard,  **  Nismes  et  ses  En\irons,"  ii.  217. 


END   OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  i-js 

of  Nantes ;  at  the  purity,  self-denial,  honesty,  and  in- 
dustry of  their  lives  ;  at  the  devotion  with  Avhich  they 
adhered  to  religious  duty  and  the  worship  of  God ;  we 
cannot  fail  to  regard  them — labourers  and  peasants 
though  they  were — as  amongst  the  truest,  greatest,  and 
worthiest  heroes  of  their  age.  When  society  in 
France  was  falling  to  pieces  ;  when  its  men  and  women 
were  ceasing  to  believe  in  themselves  and  in.  each  other  ; 
when  the  religion  of  the  State  had  become  a  mass  of 
abuse,  consistent  only  in  its  cruelty ;  when  the  de- 
bauchery of  its  kings*  had  descended  through  the 
aristocracy  to  the  people,  until  the  whole  mass  was 
becoming  thoroughly  corrupt ;  these  poor  Huguenots 
seem  to  have  been  the  only  constant  and  true  men,  the 
only  men  holding  to  a  great  idea,  for  which  they  were 
willing  to  die — for  they  were  always  ready  for  martyr- 
dom by  the  rack,  the  gibbet,  or  the  galleys,  rather  than 
forsake  the  worship)  of  God  freely  and  according  to 
conscience. 

But  their  persecution  was  now  in  a  great  measure  at 


*  Such  was  the  dissoluteness  of  the  manners  of  the  court,  that  no 
less  than- 500,000,000  francs  of  the  public  debt,  or  £20,000,000  sterling, 
had  been  incurred  for  expenses  too  ignominious  to  bear  the  light,  or 
even  to  be  named  in  the  .public  accounts.  It  appears  from  an 
authentic  document,  quoted  in  Soulavie's  history,  that  in  the  sixteen 
months  immediately  preceding  the  death  of  Louis  XV.,  Madame  du 
Barry  (originally  a  courtezan,)  had  drawn  from  the  royal  treasury 
no  less  than  2,450,000  francs,  or  equal  to  about  £200,000  of 
our  present  money.  ["  Histoire  de  la  Decadence  de  la  Monarchic 
Franqaise,"  par  Soulavie  I'Aine,  iii.  330.]  "La  corruption,"  says 
Lacretelle,  '*  entrait  dans  les  plus  paisibles  menages,  dans  les  families 
les  plus  obscures.  Elle  [Madame  du  Barri]  etait  savamment  et  long- 
temps  combinee  par  ceux  qui  servaient  les  debauches  de  Louis.  Des 
emissaires  etaient  employees  a  seduire  des  filles  qui  n'etaient  point 
encore  nubiles,  a  conibattre  dans  de  jeunes  femmes  des  principes  de 
pudeur  et  de  fidelile.  Amant  de  grade,  il  livrait  u  la  prostitution 
publique  celles  de  ses  sujettes  qu'il  avait  prematurement  corrompues. 
II  souifrait  que  les  eni'ans  de  ses  infames  plaisirs  partageassent  la 
destinee  obscure  ct  dangereuse  de  ceux  qu'uu  pere  n'avoue  point." 
Lacretelle,  Kistoiro  ch  France  pendant  le  xviii  Siede,  iii.  171-173. 

19 


276  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

an  end.  It  is  true  tlie  Protestants  were  not  recognised, 
but  tliey  nevertheless  lield  tlieir  worship  openly,  and 
were  not  interfered  with.  When  Louis  XYI.  succeeded 
to  the  throne  in  1774,  on  the  administration  of  the 
oath  for  the  extermination  of  heretics  denounced  by 
the  Church,  the  Archbishop  of  Toulouse  said  to  him  : 
''  It  is  reserved  for  you  to  strike  the  final  blow  against 
Calvinism  in  your  dominions.  Command  the  dis- 
persion of  the  schismatic  assemblies  of  the  Protestants, 
exclude  the  sectarians,  without  distinction,  from  all 
ofRces  of  the  public  administration,  and  you  will  insure 
among  your  subjects  the  imity  of  the  true  Christian 


reliaion.^ 


No  attention  was  paid  to  this  and  similar  appeals  for 
the  restoration  of  intolerance.  On  the  contrary,  an 
\V  Edict  of  Toleration  was  issued  by  Louis  XYI.  in  1787, 
which,  though  granting  a  legal  existence  to  the  Pro- 
testants, nevertheless  set  forth  that  "  The  Catholic, 
Apostolic,  and  Ptoman  religion  alone  shall  continue  to 
enjoy  the  right  of  public  worship  in  our  realm." 

Opinion,  however,  moved  very  fast  in  those  days. 
The  Declaration  of  Pights  of  1789  overthrew  the 
barriers  which  debarred  the  admission  of  Protestants 
to  public  offices.  On  the  question  of  tolerance, 
Pabaut  Saint-Etienne,  son  of  Paul  Pabaut,  who  sat 
in  the  National  Assembl}^  for  Nismes,  insisted  on  the 
freedom  of  the  Protestants  to  worship  God  after  their 
accustomed  forms.  He  said  he  represented  a  consti- 
tuency of  360,000,  of  whom  120,000  were  Protestants. 
The  penal  laws  against  the  worship  of  the  Peformed, 
he  said,  had  never  been  formally  abolished.  He  (daimed 
the  rights  of  Frenchmen  for  two  millions  of  useful 
citizens.  It  was  not  toleration  he  asked  for,  it  was 
Ubcrtyr 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  277 

"  Toleration  !  "  he  exclaimed ;  *'  sufferance  !  pardon  ! 
clemency  !  ideas  supremely  unjust  towards  the  Protest- 
ants, so  long  as  it  is  true  that  difference  of  religion,  that 
difference  of  opinion,  is  not  a  crime  !  Toleration !  I 
demand  that  toleration  should  be  proscribed  in  its  turn, 
and  deemed  an  iniquitous  word,  dealing  with  us  as 
citizens  worthy  of  pity,  as  criminals  to  whom  pardon 
is  to  be  granted  ! ''  * 

The  motion  before  the  House  was  adopted  with  a 
modification,  and  all  Frenchmen,  without  distinction 
of  religious  opinions,  were  declared  admissible  to  all 
offices  and  employments.  Four  months  later,  on 
the  15th  March,  1790,  Habant  Saint-Etienne  him- 
self, son  of  the  long  proscribed  j)astor  of  the  Desert, 
was  nominated  President  of  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly, succeeding  to  the  chair  of  the  Abbe  Montes- 
quieu. 

He  did  not,  however,  occupy  the  position  long.  In 
the  struggles  of  the  Convention  he  took  part  with  the 
Girondists,  and  refused  to  vote  for  the  death  of 
Louis  XYI.  He  maintained  an  obstinate  struo^o-le 
against  the  violence  of  the  Mountain.  His  arrest  was 
decreed ;  he  was  dragged  before  the  revolutionary 
tribunal,  and  condemned  to  be  executed  within 
twenty-four  hours. 

The  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution  hide  the  doings 
of  Protestantism  and  Catholicism  alike  for  several  years, 
until  Buonaparte  came  into  power.  He  recognised 
Catholicism  as  the  established  religion,  and  paid  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  bishops  and  priests.  He  also 
protected  Protestantism,  the  members  of  which  were 
entitled  to  all  the  benefits  secured  to  the  other  Chris- 

*  "History  of  the  rrotestaiit3  of  France,"  by  G.  de  Felice,  book 
V.  sect.  i. 


278  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

tian  communions,  "  witli  the  exception   of  pecuniary 
subvention." 

The  comparative  liberty  which  the  Protestants  of 
France  had  enjoyed  under  the  Hepublic  and  the 
Empire  seemed  to  be  in  some  peril  at  the  restoration 
of  the  Bourbons.  The  more  bigoted  Roman  Catholics 
of  the  South  hailed  their  return  as  the  precursors  of 
renewed  persecution :  and  they  raised  the  cry  of  "  Un 
Dieu,  un  Eoi,  une  Foi." 

The  Protestant  mayor  of  Nismes  was  publicly  in- 
sulted, and  compelled  to  resign  his  office.  The  mob 
assembled  in  the  streets  and  sang  ferocious  songs, 
threatening  to  "  make  black  puddings  of  the  blood  of 
the  Calvinists'  children."*  Another  St.  Bartholomew 
was  even  threatened  ;  the  Protestants  began  to  con- 
ceal themselves,  and  many  fled  for  refuge  to  the 
Upper  Ceyennes.  Houses  were  sacked,  their  inmates 
outraged,  and  in  many  cases  murdered. 

The  same  scenes  occurred  in  most  of  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  department  of  Gard ;  and  the  authorities 
seemed  to  be  powerless  to  prevent  them.  The  Protestants 
at  length  began  to  take  up  arms  for  their  defence ;  the 
peasantry  of  the  Cevennes  brought  from  their  secret 
places  the  rusty  arms  which  their  fathers  had  wielded 
more  than  a  century  before  ;  and  another  Camisard 
war  seemed  imminent. 

In  the  meantime,  the  subject  of  the  renewed  Protest- 
ant persecutions  in  the  South  of  France  was,  in  May, 
1816,  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  British  House  of 
Commons  by  Sir  Samuel  Pomilly — himself  the  de- 
scendant of  a   Languedoc   Huguenot — in  a  powerful 

*  See  the  Eev.  Mark  "SVilks's  *'  History  of  the  Persecutions  endured 
by  the  Protestants  of  the  South  of  France,  1814,  ISlo  1816." 
Longmans,  1821. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS,  279 

speecli ;  and  altliougli  tlie  motion  was  opposed  by  the 
Go\  eminent,  tliere  can  be  little  doubt  that  tlie  discus- 
sion produced  its  due  effect ;  for  tbe  Bourbon  Govern- 
ment, itself  becoming  alarmed,  shortly  after  adopted 
vigorous  measures,  and  the  persecution  was  brought  to 
an  end. 

Since  that  time  the  Protestants  of  France  have  re- 
mained comparatively  unmolested.  Evidences  have 
not  been  wanting  to  show  that  the  persecuting  spirit 
of  the  priest-party  has  not  become  extinct.  While  the 
author  was  in  France  in  1870,  to  visit  the  scenes  of  the 
wars  of  the  Camisards,  he  observed  from  the  paj^ers 
that  a  French  deputy  had  recently  brought  a  case 
before  the  Assembly,  in  which  a  Catholic  cure  of  Yille- 
d'Avray  refused  burial  in  the  public  cemetery  to  the 
corpse  of  a  3'oung  English  lady,  because  she  was  a 
Protestant,  and  remitted  it  to  the  place  allotted  for 
criminals  and  suicides.  The  body  accordingly  lay  for 
eighteen  days  in  the  cabin  of  the  gravedigger,  until  it 
could  be  transported  to  the  cemetery  of  Sevres,  where 
it  was  finally  interred. 

But  the  people  of  France,  as  well  as  the  government, 
have  become  too  indifferent  about  religion  generally,  to 
persecute  any  one  on  its  account.  The  nation  is  pro- 
bably even  now  suffering  for  its  indifference,  and  the 
spectacle  is  a  sad  one.  It  is  only  the  old,  old  story. 
The  sins  of  the  fathers  are  being  visited  on  the  children. 
Louis  XIY.  and  the  French  nation  of  his  time  sowed 
the  wind,  and  their  descendants  at  the  E/Cvolution 
reaped  the  Avhirlwind.  And  who  knows  how  much  of 
the  sufferings  of  France  during  the  last  few  years  may 
have  been  due  to  the  ferocious  intolerance,  the  abandon- 
ment to  vicious  pleasures,  the  thirst  for  dominion,  and 
the  hunger  for  "glory,"  which  above  all  others  charac- 


28o  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

terized  the  reign  of  tliat  monarcli  wIlo  is  in  history 
miscalled  "  the  Great  ?" 

It  will  have  been  noted  that  the  chief  scenes  of  the 
revival  of  Protestantism  described  in  the  preceding 
pages  occurred  in  Langnedoc  and  the  South  of  France, 
where  the  chief  strength  of  the  Huguenots  alwaj^s  lay. 
The  Camisard  civil  war  which  happened  there,  was  not 
without  its  influence.  The  resolute  spirit  which  it  had 
evoked  survived.  The  people  were  purified  by  suffer- 
ing, and  though  they  did  not  conquer  civil  liberty, 
they  continued  to  live  strong,  hardy,  virtuous  lives. 
When  Protestantism  w^as  at  length  able  to  lift  up  its 
head  after  so  long  a  period  of  persecution,  it  was  found 
that,  during  its  long  submergence,  it  had  lost  neither 
in  numbers,  in  moral  or  intellectual  vigour,  nor  in 
industrial  power. 

To  this  day  the  Protestants  of  Languedoc  cherish  the 
memory  of  their  wanderings  and  worshippings  in  the 
Desert ;  and  they  still  occasionally  hold  their  meetings 
in  the  old  frequented  places.  Not  far  from  Nismes  are 
several  of  these  ancient  meeting-places  of  the  persecuted, 
to  which  we  have  above  referred.  One  of  them  is  about 
two  miles  from  the  cit}^  in  the  bed  of  a  mountain 
torrent.  The  worshippers  arranged  themselves  along 
the  slopes  of  the  narrow  valley,  the  pastor  preaching  to 
to  them  from  the  grassy  level  in  the  hollow,  while 
sentinels  posted  on  the  adjoining  heights  gave  warning 
of  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Another  favourite  place 
of  meeting  was  the  hollow  of  an  ancient  quarry  called 
the  Echo,  from  which  the  Pomans  had  excavated  much 
of  the  stone  used  in  the  building  of  the  city.  The  con- 
gregation seated  themselves  around  the  craggy  sides, 
the  preacher's  pulpit  being  placed  in  the  narrow  pass 
leading   into    the   quarry.     Notwithstanding    all   the 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  2S1 

vigilance  of  tlie  sentinels,  many  joersons  of  botli  sexes 
and  various  ages  were  often  dragged  from  the  Echo  to 
imprisonment  or  death.  Even  after  the  persecutions 
had  ceased,  these  meeting-places  continued  to  be  fre- 
quented by  the  Protestants  of  Msmes,  and  they  were 
sometimes  attended  by  five  or  six  thousand  persons, 
and  on  sacrament  days  by  even  double  that  number. 

Although  the  Protestants  of  Languedoc  for  the  most 
part  belong  to  the  National  Reformed  Church,  the  in- 
dependent character  of  the  people  has  led  them  to 
embrace  Protestantism  in  other  forms.  Thus,  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  is  especially  strong  in  the  South,  whilst 
the  Evangelical  Methodists  number  more  congregations 
and  worshippers  in  Languedoc  than  in  all  the  rest  of 
France.  There  are  also  in  the  Cevennes  several  con- 
gregations of  Moravian  Brethren.  But  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  curious  and  interesting  issues  of  the  Camisard 
war  is  the  branch  of  the  Society  of  Friends  still  exist- 
ing in  Languedoc — the  only  representatives  of  that 
body  in  France,  or  indeed  on  the  European  continent. 

When  the  Protestant  peasants  of  the  Cevennes  took 
up  arms  and  determined  to  resist  force  by  force,  there 
were  several  influential  men  amongst  them  who  kept 
back  and  refused  to  join  them.  They  held  that  the 
Gospel  they  professed  did  not  warrant  them  in  taking 
up  arms  and  fighting,  even  against  the  enemies  who 
plundered  and  persecuted  them.  And  when  they  saw 
the  excesses  into  which  the  Cam.isards  were  led  by  the 
war  of  retaliation  on  which  they  had  entered,  they  were 
the  more  confirmed  in  their  view  that  the  attitude 
which  the  rebels  had  assumed,  was  inconsistent  with 
the  Christian  religion. 

After  the  war  had  ceased,  these  people  continued  to 
associate  together,   maintaining   a    faithful   testimony 


282  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

against  war,  refusing  to  take  oatlis,  and  recognising 
silent  worship,  without  dependence  on  human  acquire- 
ments. They  were  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  a 
similar  body  in  England  and  America  until  the  period 
of  the  French  Kevolution,  when  some  intercourse  began 
to  take  place  between  them. 

In  1807,  Stephen  Grellct,  an  American  Friend,  of 
French  origin,  visited  Languedoc,  and  held  many  re- 
ligious meetings  in  the  towns  and  villages  of  the  Lower 
Cevennes,  which  were  not  only  attended  by  the  Friends 
of  Congenies,  St.  Hypolitc,  Ganges,  St.  Gllles,  Fontanes, 
Yauvert,  Quissac,  and  other  places  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Nismes,  but  by  the  inhabitants  at  large,  Roman 
Catholics  as  well  as  Protestants.  At  that  time,  as  now, 
Congenies  was  regarded  as  the  centre  of  the  district 
principally  inhabited  by  the  Friends,  and  there  they 
possess  a  large  and  commodious  meeting-house,  built 
for  the  purpose  of  worship. 

At  the  time  of  Stej^hen  Grellet's  visit,  he  especially 
mentioned  Louis  Majolier  as  "a  father  and  a  pillar" 
amongst  the  little  flock.*  And  itmaj^  not  be  unworthy 
to  note  that  the  daughter  of  the  same  Louis  Majolier 
is  at  the  present  time  one  of  the  most  acceptable  female 
preachers  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  England. 

It  may  also  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  that  there  still 
exist  amongst  the  Yosges  mountains  the  remnants  of 
an  ancient  sect — the  Anabaptists  of  Munster — who 
hold  views  in  many  respects  similar  to  those  of  the 
Friends.  Amongst  other  things,  they  testify  against 
war  as  unchristian,  and  refuse  imder  any  circumstances 
to  carry  arms.  Eather  than  do  so,  they  have  at 
different  times  suffered  imprisonment,  persecution,  and 
even   death.     The   republic   of  1793    respected   their 

*  "Life  of  S'.ephea  Grellet,"  third  edition.     London,  1870. 


END  OF  THE  PERSECUTIONS.  283 

scruples,  and  did  not  require  the  Anabaptists  to  fight 
in  the  ranks,  but  employed  them  as  pioneers  and 
drivers,  while  JN'apoleon  made  them  look  after  the 
wounded  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  attend  to  the 
waggon  train  and  ambulances.*  And  we  understand 
that  they  continue  to  be  similarly  employed  down  to 
the  present  time. 

It  forms  no  part  of  our  subject  to  discuss  the  present 
state  of  the  French  Protestant  Church.  It  has  lost  no 
part  of  its  activity  during  the  recent  political  changes. 
Although  its  clergy  had  for  some  time  been  supported 
by  the  State,  they  had  not  met  in  public  synod  until 
June,  1872,  after  an  interval  of  more  than  two  hundred 
years.  During  that  period  many  things  had  become 
changed.  Ptationalism  had  invaded  Evangelicalism. 
Without  a  synod,  or  a  settled  faith,  the  Protestant 
churches  were  only  so  many  separate  congregations, 
often  representing  merely  individual  interests.  In  fact, 
the  old  Huguenot  Church  required  reorganization; 
and  great  results  are  expected  from  the  proceedings 
adopted  at  the  recently  held  synod  of  the  French  Pro- 
testant Church,  t 

With  respect  to  the  French  Catholic  Church,  its 
relative  position  to  the  Protestants  remains  the  same  as 
before.  But  it  has  no  longer  the  power  to  persecute. 
The  Gallican  Church  has  been  replaced  by  the  Ultra- 
montane Church,  but  its  impulses  are  no  kindlier, 
though  it  has  become  ''  InfalKble." 

The  principal  movement  of  the  Catholic  priests  of 
late  years  has  been  to  get  up  appearances  of  the  Virgin. 

*  Michel,  "Les  Anabaptistes  des  Vosges."     Paris,  1862 
t  The  best  account  of  the  proceedings  at  this  synod^is  given  in 
hlackivood  s  Magazine  for  January,  1873. 


284  THE  HUGUENOTS. 

Tlie  Tirgin  appears,  nsuallj^,  to  a  clilld  or  two,  and 
pilgrimages  are  immediately  got  up  to  the  scene  of 
lier  yisit.  By  getting  up  religious  moyements  of  tbis 
kind,  tlie  priests  and  their  followers  believe  that 
France  will  yet  be  helped  towards  the  Revanche,  which 
she  is  said  to  long  for. 

But  pilgrimages  will  not  make  men  ;  and  if  Franco 
wishes  to  be  free,  she  will  have  to  adopt  some  other 
methods.  Bismarck  will  never  be  put  down  by  pil- 
grimages. It  was  a  sad  saying  of  Father  Hyacinthe  at 
Geneva,  that  ''France  is  bound  to  two  influences — • 
Superstition  and  Irreligion." 


A  VISIT  TO  THE 

cothsttey  of  the  yaudois. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  COUNTEY  OF  THE 
VAUDOIS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

"Pi AUPHINY  is  one  of  the  least  visited  of  all  the  pro- 
■^  vinces  of  France.  It  occupies  a  remote  corner  of 
the  empire,  lying  completely  out  of  the  track  of  ordinary 
tourists.  No  great  road  passes  through  it  into  Italy, 
the  Piedmontese  frontier  of  which  it  adjoins;  and  the 
annual  streams  of  English  and  American  travellers 
accordingly  enter  that  kingdom  by  other  routes.  Even 
to  Frenchmen,  who  travel  little  in  their  own  country 
and  still  less  in. others,  Dauphiny  is  very  little  known  ; 
and  M.  Joanne,  who  has  written  an  excellent  Itinerary 
of.  the  South  of  France,  almost  takes  the  credit  of 
having  discovered  it. 

Yet  Dauphiny  is  a  province  full  of  interest.  Its 
scenery  almost  vies  with  that  of  Switzerland  in  gran- 
deur, beauty,  and  wildness.  The  great  mountain  masses 
of  the  Alps  do  not  end  in  Savoy,  but  extend  through 
the  south-eastern  parts  of  France,  *almost  to  the  mouths 


288       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

of  the  Rlione.  Packed  closer  together  than  in  most 
parts  of  Switzerland,  the  mountains  of  Dauphiny  are 
furrowed  by  deep  valleys,  each  with  its  rapid  stream  or 
torrent  at  bottom,  in  some  places  overhimg  by  pre- 
cipitous rocks,  in  others  hemmed  in  by  green  hills, 
over  which  are  seen  the  distant  snowy  peaks  and 
glaciers  of  the  loftier  mountain  ranges.  Of  these, 
Mont  Pelvoux — whose  double  pyramid  can  be  seen 
from  Lyons  on  a  clear  day,  a  hundred  miles  off — 
and  the  Aiguille  du  Midi,  are  among  the  larger 
masses,  rising  to  a  height  little  short  of  Mont  Blanc 
itself. 

From  the  ramparts  of  Grenoble  the  panoramic  view 
is  of  wonderful  beauty  and  grandeur,  extending  along 
the  vallevs  of  the  Isere  and  the  Drac,  and  across  that 
of  the  Romanche.  The  massive  heads  of  the  Grand 
Chartreuse  mountains  bound  the  prospect  to  the 
north ;  and  the  summits  of  the  snow-clad  Dauphiny 
Alps  on  the  south  and  east  present  a  combination 
of  bold  valley  and  mountain  scenery,  the  like  of  which 
is  not  to  be  seen  in  France,  if  in  Europe. 

But  it  is  not  the  scenery,  or  the  geology,  or  the  flora 
of  the  province,  however  marvellous  these  may  be,  that 
constitutes  the  chief  interest  for  the  traveller  through 
these  Dauphiny  valleys,  so  much  as  the  human  en- 
durance, suffering,  and  faithfulness  of  the  people  who 
have  lived  in  them  in  past  times,  and  of  which  so  many 
interesting  remnants  still  survive.  For  Dauphiny  forms 
a  principal  part  of  the  country  of  the  ancient  Yaudois 
or  AYaldenses — literally,  the  people  inhabiting  the 
Vaiix,  or  valleys — who  for  nearly  seven  hundred  years 
bore  the  heavy  brunt  of  Papal  persecution,  and  are  now, 
after  all  their  sufferings,  free  to  worship  God  according 
to  the  dictates  of  their  conscience. 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONARIES.     289 

Tlie  coimtrv  of  tlie  Yaiidois  is  not  confined,  as  is 
generally  supposed,  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  but 
extends  over  the  greater  part  of  Dauphiny  and  Pro- 
vence. From  the  main  ridge  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  which 
divide  France  from  Italy,  great  mountain  spurs  are 
thrown  out,  which  run  westward  as  well  as  eastward, 
and  enclose  narrow  strips  of  pasturage,  cultivable 
land,  and  green  shelves  on  the  mountain  sides,  where 
a  poor,  virtuous,  and  hard-working  race  have  long 
contrived  to  earn  a  scanty  subsistence,  amidst  trials 
and  difficulties  of  no  ordinary  kind, — the  greatest  of 
which,  strange  to  say,  have  arisen  from  the  pure  and 
simple  character  of  the  religion  they  professed. 

The  tradition  which  exists  among  them  is,  that  the 
early  Christian  missionaries,  when  travelling  from  Italy 
into  Gaul  by  the  Poman  road  passing  over  Mont 
Genevre,  taught  the  Gospel  in  its  primitive  form  to  the 
people  of  the  adjoining  districts.  It  is  even  surmised 
that  St.  Pavil  journeyed  from  Pome  into  Spain  by  that 
route,  and  may  himself  have  imparted  to  the  people  of 
the  valleys  their  first  Christian  instruction.  The 
Italian  and  Gallic  provinces  in  that  quarter  were  cer- 
tainly Christianized  in  the  second  century  at  the  latest, 
and  it  is  known  that  the  early  missionaries  were  in  the 
habit  of  making  frequent  journeys  from  the  provinces 
to  Pome.  Wherefore  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  people  of  the  valleys  would  receive  occasional  visits 
from  the  wayfaring  teachers  who  travelled  by  the 
mountain  passes  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
their  dwellings. 

As  years  rolled  on,  and  the  Church  at  Pome  became 
rich  and  allied  itself  with  the  secular  power,  it  gradually 
departed  more  and  more  from  its  primitive  condition,* 

*  The  ancient  Vaudois  had  a  saying,  known  in  other  countries — 


290       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

until  at  length  it  was  scarcely  to  be  recognised  from 
the  Paganism  which  it  had  superseded.  The  heathen 
gods  were  rej)laced  by  canonised  mortals  ;  Yenus  and 
Cupid  by  the  Virgin  and  Child  ;  Lares  and  Penates  by 
images  and  crucifixes ;  while  incense,  flowers,  tapers, 
and  showy  dresses  came  to  be  regarded  as  essential 
parts  of  the  ceremonial  of  the  new  religion  as  they  had 
been  of  the  old.  Madonnas  winked  and  bled  again,  as 
the  statues  of  Juno  and  Pompey  had  done  before  ;  and 
stones  and  relics  worked  miracles  as  in  the  time  of  the 
Augurs. 

Attempts  were  made  by  some  of  the  early  bishops  to 
stem  this  tide  of  innovation.  Thus,  in  the  fourth 
century,  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  and  Philastrius, 
Bishop  of  Brescia,  acknowledging  no  authority  on 
earth  as  superior  to  that  of  the  Bible,  protested  against 
the  introduction  of  images  in  churches,  which  they  held 
to  be  a  return  to  Paganism.  Four  centuries  later, 
Claude,  Bishop  of  Turin,  advanced  like  views,  and 
ojjposed  with  energy  the  worship  of  images,  which  he 
regarded  as  absolute  idolatr3\  In  the  meanwhile,  the 
simple  Taudois,  shut  up  in  their  almost  inaccessible 
vallej^s,  and  knowing  nothing  of  these  innovations,  con- 
tinued to  adhere  to  their  original  primitive  form  of 
worship  ;  and  it  clearly  appears,  from  a  passage  in  the 
writings  of  St.  Ambrose,  that,  in  his  time,  the  super- 
stitions which  prevailed  elsewhere  had  not  at  all  ex- 
tended into  the  mountainous  regions  of  his  diocese. 

The  Taudois  Church  was  never,  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  word,  a  ''Peformed"  Church,  simply 
because  it  had  not  become  corrupted,  and  did  not  stand 

"Eeligion  brought  forth  wealth,  and  the  daughter  devoured  the 
mother;"  and  another  of  like  meaning,  but  less  known — "When 
the  bishops'  croziers  became  golden,  the  bishops  themselves  became 
wooden." 


THE  VAUDOIS  ''  UNREFORMEDr       291 

in  need  of  '^reformation."  It  was  not  tlie  Yaudois 
who  left  the  Church,  but  the  Roman  Church  that  left 
them  in  search  of  idols.  Adhering  to  their  primitive 
faith,  they  never  recognised  the  paramount  authority 
of  the  Pope ;  they  never  worshipped  images,  nor  used 
incense,  nor  observed  Mass  ;  and  when,  in  the  course 
of  time,  these  corruptions  became  known  to  them,  and 
they  found  that  the  Western  Church  had  ceased  to  be 
Catholic,  and  become  merely  Roman,  they  openly 
separated  from  it,  as  being  no  longer  in  conformity 
with  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  as  inculcated  in  the 
Bible  and  delivered  to  them  by  their  fathers.  Their 
ancient  manuscripts,  still  extant,  attest  to  the  purity  of 
their  doctrines.  They  are  written,  like  the  Nobla 
Levcon,  in  the  Romance  or  Provencal — the  earliest  of 
the  modern  classical  languages,  the  language  of  the 
troubadours — though  now  only  spoken  as  a  patois  in 
Dauphiny,  Piedmont,  Sardinia,  the  north  of  Spain,  and 
the  Balearic  Isles.* 

If  the  age  counts  for  anything,  the  Yaudois  are 
justified  in  their  claim  to  be  considered  one  of  the 
oldest  churches  in  Europe.  Long  before  the  conquest 
of  England  by  the  Normans,  before  the  time  of  Wallace 
and  Bruce  in  Scotland,  before  England  had  planted  its 
foot  in  Ireland,  the  Yaudois  Church  existed.  Their 
remoteness,  their  poverty,  and  their  comparative  un- 
importance as  a  people,  for  a  long  time  protected  them 
from  interference ;  and  for  centuries  they  remained 
unnoticed  by  Rome.  But  as  the  Western  Church  ex- 
tended its  power,  it  became  insatiable  for  uniformity. 
It  would  not  tolerate  the  independence  which  charac- 
terized the  early  churches,  but  aimed  at  subjecting 
them  to  the  exclusive  authority  of  Rome. 

*  Sismondi,  "  Litterature  du  Midi  de  I'Europe,"  i.  lo9. 

20 


292       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

The  Yaudois,  however,  persisted  in  repudiating  the 
doctrines  and  formularies  of  the  Pope.  When  argu- 
ment failed,  the  Church  called  the  secular  arm  to  its 
aid,  and  then  began  a  series  of  persecutions,  extending 
over  several  centuries,  which,  for  brutality  and  ferocity, 
are  probably  unexampled  in  history.  To  crush  this 
unoffending  but  faithful  people,  Rome  employed  her 
most  irrefragable  arguments — the  curses  of  Lucius  and 
the  horrible  cruelties  of  InnoCent — and  the  "Yicar  of 
Christ"  bathed  the  banner  of  the  Cross  in  a  carnage 
from  which  the  wolves  of  Eomulus  and  the  eagles  of 
CsDsar  would  have  turned  with  loathing. 

Long   before  the   period   of   the   Reformation,    the 

Vaudois  vallej^s  were  ravaged  by  fire  and  sword  because 

of  the  alleged  heresy  of  the  people.     Luther  was  not 

born  until  1483  ;  whereas  nearly  four  centuries  before, 

the  Yaudois  were  stigmatized  as   heretics  by  Rome. 

As  early  as  1096,  we  find  Pope  Urban  11.  describing 

Yal   Louise,    one    of    the    Dauphiny    valleys  —  then 

called   Yallis    Gyrontana,    from   the   torrent   of  Gyr, 

which  flows  through  it — as  "infested   with   heresy." 

In    1179,    hot   persecution  raged  all  over  Dauphiny, 

extending  to  the  Albigeois  of  the  South  of  France, 

as  far  as  Lyons  and  Toulouse  ;  one  of  the  first  martja's 

being  Pierre  Waldo,   or  Waldensis,*  of  Lyons,  who 

was  executed  for  heresy  by  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons 

in  1180. 

Of  one  of  the  early  persecutions,  an  ancient  writer 

says :  "  In  the  year  1243,   Pope  Innocent  II.  ordered 

the  Bishop  of  Metz  rigorously  to  prosecute  the  Yaudois, 

especially  because   they  read  the  sacred  books  in  the 

*  It  has  been  surmised  by  some  writers  that  the  Waldenses  derived 
tlieir  name  from  this  martyr;  but  being  known  as  "heretics"  lon^ 
before  his  time,  it  is  more  probable  that  they  gave  the  name  to  him 
than  that  he  did  to  them. 


THE  EARLY  PERSECUTIONS,  293 

vulgar  tongue."*     From  time  to  time,  new  persecu- 
tions were  ordered,  and  conducted  with  ever-increasing 
ferocity— tlie  scourge,  the  brand,  and  the  sword  being 
employed  by  turns.     In  1486,  while  Luther  was  still 
in  his  cradle.  Pope  Innocent  YIII.   issued  a  bull  of 
extermination   against    the    Yaudois,    summoning   all 
true  Catholics  to  the  holy  crusade,  promising  free  par- 
don to  all  manner  of  criminals  who  should  take  part 
in  it,  and  concluding  with  the  promise  of  the  remission 
of  sins  to  every  one  who  should  slay  a  heretic. f     The 
consequence  was,  the  assemblage  of  an  immense  horde 
of  brigands,  who  were  let  loose  on  the  valleys  of  Dau- 
phiny  and  Piedmont,  which  they  ravaged  and  pillaged, 
in  company  with  eighteen   thousand   regular   troops,' 
.jointly  furnished  by  the  French  king  and  the  Duke  of 
Savoy. 

Sometimes  the  valleys  were  under  the  authority  of 
the  kings  of  France,  sometimes  under  that  of  the  dukes 
of  Savoy,  whose  armies  alternately  overran  them ;  but 
change  of  masters  and  change  of  popes  made  little 
difference   to   the   Yaudois.     It    sometimes,    however, 
happened,   that  the  persecution  waxed  hotter  on  one 
side  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  while  it  temporarily  relaxed 
on  the  other ;  and  on  such  occasions   the  French  and 
Italian  Yaudois  were  accustomed  to  cross  the  mountain 
passes,  and  take  refuge  in  each  others'  valleys.     But 
when,  as  in  the  above  case,  the  kings,   soldiers,  and 
brigands,  on  both  sides,  simultaneously  plied  the  brand 
and  the  sword,  the  times  were  very  troublous  indeed 
for   these   poor   hunted    people.     They   had   then   no 
alternative    but   to  climb  up  the  mountains  into  the 

V  *!!?'''''?  ^i^-^f'  "H'stoire  G^nerale  des  EgHses  Evangeliques  des 
Vallees  de  Piedmont,  ou  Vaudoises."     Leyde,  1669.     Pait  ii   330 
t  Leger,  li.  8-20. 


2  94       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

least  accessible  places,  or  liide  themselves  away  in  dens 
and  caverns  with  their  families,  until  their  enemies  had 
departed.  But  they  were  often  tracked  to  their  hiding- 
places  by  their  persecutors,  and  suffocated,  strangled, 
or  shot — men,  women,  and  children.  Hence  there  is 
scarcely  a  hiding-place  along  the  mountain-sides  of 
Dauphiny  but  has  some  tradition  connected  with  it  re- 
lating to  these  dreadful  times.  In  one,  so  many  women 
and  children  were  suffocated  j  in  another,  so  many 
perished  of  cold  and  hunger ;  in  a  third,  so  many  were 
ruthlessly  put  to  the  sword.  If  these  caves  of  Dauphiny 
had  voices,  what  deeds  of  horror  they  could  tell ! 

"What  is  known  as  the  Easter  massacre  of  1655  made 
an  unusual  sensation  in  Europe,  but  especially  in 
England,  principally  through  the  attitude  which  Oliver 
Cromwell  assumed  in  the  matter.  Persecution  had 
followed  persecution  for  nearly  four  hundred  years,  and 
still  the  Vaudois  were  neither  converted  nor  extirpated. 
The  dukes  of  Savoy  during  all  that  time  pursued  a 
uniform  course  of  treachery  and  cruelty  towards  this 
portion  of  their  subjects.  Sometimes  the  Yaudois, 
pressed  by  their  persecutors,  turned  upon  them,  and 
drove  them  ignominiously  out  of  their  valleys.  Then 
the  reigning  dukes  would  refrain  for  a  time ;  and, 
probably  needing  their  help  in  one  or  other  of  the  wars 
in  which  they  were  constantly  engaged,  would  promise 
them  protection  and  privileges.  But  such  promises 
were  invariably  broken  ;  and  at  some  moment  when  the 
Yaudois  were  thrown  off  their  guard  by  his  pretended 
graciousness,  the  duke  for  the  time  being  would 
suddenly  pounce  upon  them  and  carry  fire  and  sword 
through  their  valleys. 

Indeed,  the  dukes  of  Savoy  seem  to  have  been  about 


CELEBRATION  OF  EASTER,   1655.        295 

the    most    wrong-headed   line    of    despots   that    ever 
cursed   a   people    by   their    rule.     Their    mania   was 
soldiering,    though    they   were    oftener    beaten    than 
victorious.     They  were  thrashed  out  of  Dauphiny  by 
France,  thrashed  out  of  Geneva  by  the  citizens,  thrashed 
out  of  the  valleys  by  their  own  peasantry  ;    and  still 
they  went  on  raising  a.rmies,  making  war,  and  massa- 
cring their  Yaudois  subjects.      Being  devoted  servants 
of  the  Pope,  in  1655  they  concurred  with  him  in  the 
establishment  of  a  branch  of  the  society  De  Propaganda 
Fide  at  Turin,  which  extended  over  the  whole  of  Pied- 
mont,   for    the    avowed    purpose   of   extirpating   the 
heretics.     On  Palm  Sunday,   the    beginning  of  "^Holy 
Week,  the  society  commenced  active  proceedings.    The 
army  of  Savoy  advanced  suddenly  upon  La  Tour,  and 
were  let  loose  upon  the  people.     A  general  massacre 
began,  accompanied  with  shocking  brutalities,  and  con- 
tinued for  more  than  a  week.     In  many  hamlets  not  a 
cottage  was  left  standing,  and  such  of  the  people  as  had 
not  been  able  to  fly  into  the  upper  valleys  were  in- 
discriminately put  to  the  sword.     And  thus  was  Easter 
celebrated. 

The  noise  of  this  dreadful  deed  rang  through  Europe, 
and  excited  a  general  feeling  of  horror,  especially  in 
England.  Cromwell,  then  at  the  height  of  his  power, 
offered  the  fugitive  Yaudois  an  asylum  in  Ireland  ;  but 
the  distance  which  lay  between  was  too  great,  and  the 
Yaudois  asked  him  to  help  them  in  some  other  way. 
Forthwith,  he  addressed  letters,  written  by  his  secre- 
tary, John  Milton,*  to  the  principal  European  powers, 
calling  upon  them  to  join  him  in  putting  a  stop  to  these 

nin^r- "^^^  ""^  ^^''  ^'"^^  ^^""^  ^^'^*°''  wrote  his  noble  sonnet,  begin- 

"Avenge,  0  Lord,  Thy  slaughter'd  saints,  whose  bones 
iiie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold,"  &c. 


296       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

liorrid  barbarities  committed  upon  an  unoffending  people. 
Cromwell  did  more.  He  sent  tlie  exiles  £2,000  out  of 
his  own  purse ;  appointed  a  day  of  humiliation  and  a 
general  collection  all  over  England,  by  which  some 
£38,000  were  raised ;  and  dispatched  Sir  Samuel 
Morland  as  his  plenipotentiary  to  expostulate  in  person 
with  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  Moreover,  a  treaty  was  on 
the  eve  of  being  signed  with  France ;  and  Cromwell 
refused  to  complete  it  until  Cardinal  Mazarin  had 
undertaken  to  assist  him  in  getting  right  done  to  the 
people  of  the  valleys. 

These  energetic  measures  had  their  effect.  The 
Yaudois  who  survived  the  massacre  were  permitted  to 
return  to  their  devastated  homes,  under  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  known  as  the  "  Patents  of  Grace,"  which 
was  only  observed,  however,  so  long  as  Cromwell  lived. 
At  the  Restoration,  Charles  II.  seized  the  public  fund 
collected  for  the  relief  of  the  Yaudois,  and  refused  to 
remit  the  annuity  arising  from  the  interest  thereon 
which  Cromwell  had  assigned  to  them,  declaring  that 
he  would  not  pay  the  debts  of  a  usurper ! 

After  that  time,  the  interest  felt  in  the  Yaudois  was 
very  much  of  a  traditional  character.  Little  was  known 
as  to  their  actual  condition,  or  whether  the  descendants 
of  the  primitive  Yaudois  Church  continued  to  exist  or 
not.  Though  English  travellers — amongst  others, 
Addison,  Smollett,  and  Sterne — passed  through  the 
country  in  the  course  of  last  century,  they  took  no 
note  of  the  people  of  the  valleys.  And  this  state  of 
general  ignorance  as  to  the  district  continued  down  to 
within  about  the  last  fifty  years,  when  quite  a  new 
interest  was  imparted  to  the  subject  through  the 
labours  and  researches  of  the  late  Dr.  Gilly,  Prebendary 
of  Durham. 


DR.   GILLY. 


297 


It  happened  that  that  gentleman  was  present  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Know- 
ledge, in  the  year  1820,  when  a  very  touching  letter 
was  read  to  the  board,  signed  "  Frederick  Peyrani, 
minister  of  Pramol,"  requesting  the  assistance  of  the 
society  in  supplying  books  to  the  Yaudois  churches  of 
Piedmont,  who  were  described  as  maintaining  a  very 
hard  struggle  with  poverty  and  oppression.  Dr.  Gilly 
was  greatly  interested  by  the  reading  of  this  letter. 
Indeed,  the  subject  of  it  so  strongly  arrested  his  atten- 
tion, that  he  says  it  "  took  complete  possession  of  him.'' 
He  proceeded  to  make  search  for  information  about  the 
Yaudois,  but  could  find  very  little  that  was  definite  or 
satisfactory  respecting  them.  Then  it  was  that  he 
formed  the  determination  of  visiting  the  valleys  and 
ascertaining  the  actual  condition  of  the  people  in 
person. 

His  visit  was  made  in  1823,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  following  year  Dr.  Grilly  published  the  result 
in  his  "  Narrative  of  an  Excursion  to  the  Mountains 
of  Piedmont."  The  book  excited  much  interest,  not 
only  in  England,  but  in  other  countries ;  and  a  move- 
ment was  shortly  after  set  on  foot  for  the  relief  and 
assistance  of  the  Yaudois.  A  committee  was  formed, 
and  a  fund  was  raised — to  which  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
and  the  Kings  of  Prussia  and  Holland  contributed — 
with  the  object,  in  the  first  place,  of  erecting  a  hospital 
for  the  sick  and  infirm  Yaudois  at  La  Tour,  in  the 
valley  of  Luzern.  It  turned  out  that  the  money  raised 
was  not  only  sufficient  for  this  purpose,  but  also  to 
provide  schools  and  a  college  for  the  education  of 
pastors,  which  were  shortly  after  erected  at  the  same 
place. 

In  1829,  Dr.  Gilly  made  a  second  visit  to  the  Pied- 


298       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

inontese  valleys,  partly  in  order  to  ascertain  how  far 
the  aid  tlius  rendered  to  tlie  poor  Yaudois  had  proved 
effectual,  and  also  to  judge  in  what  way  certain  further 
sums  placed  at  his  disposal  might  best  be  employed  for 
their  benefit.*  It  was  in  the  course  of  his  second  visit 
that  Dr.  Gilly  became  aware  of  the  fact  that  the 
Yaudois  were  not  confined  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
but  that  numerous  traces  of  them  were  also  to  be  found 
on  the  French  side  of  the  Alps,  in  Dauphiny  and  Pro- 
vence. He  accordingly  extended  his  journey  across 
the  Col  de  la  Croix  into  France,  and  cursorily  visited 
the  old  Yaudois  district  of  Yal  Fressiniere  and  Yal 
Queyras,  of  which  an  account  will  be  given  in  the 
following  chapters.  It  was  while  on  this  journey  that 
Dr.  Gilly  became  acquainted  with  the  self-denying 
labours  of  the  good  Felix  Neff  among  those  poor  out- 
lying Christians,  with  whose  life  and  character  he  was 
so  fascinated  that  he  afterwards  wrote  and  published 
the  memoir  of  Neff,  so  well  known  to  English  readers. 
Since  that  time  occasional  efforts  have  been  made  in 
aid  of  the  French  Yaudois,  though  those  on  the  Italian 
side  have  heretofore  commanded  by  far  the  larger  share 
of  interest.  There  have  been  several  reasons  for  this. 
In  the  first  place,  the  French  valleys  are  much  less 
accessible  ;  the  roads  through  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing valleys  are  so  bad  that  they  can  only  be  travelled 
on  foot,  being  scarcely  practicable  qyqi\  for  mules. 
There  is  no  good  hotel  accommodation  in  the  district, 
only  auherges,  and  these  of  an  indifferent  character. 
The  people  are  also  more  scattered,  and  even  poorer 
than  they  are  on  the  Italian  side  of  the  Alps.  Then 
the  climate  is  much  more  severe,  from  the  greater  eleva- 

*  Dr.  Gilly's  narrative  of  his  second  visit  to  the  yalleys  was  pub- 
lisl  ed  iu  1831.  under  the  title  of  "  Waldensian  "Researches." 


INFLUENCE  OF  PERSONAL  EXAMPLE.   290 

tion  of  tlie  sites  of  most  of  tlie  Yaudois  yillages  ;  so 
tliat  when  pastors  were  induced  to  settle  there,  the 
cold,  and  sterility,  and  want  of  domestic  accommoda- 
tion, soon  drove  them  away.  It  was  to  the  rigour  of 
the  climate  that  Felix  Neff  was  eventually  compelled 
to  succumb. 

Yet  much  has  been  done  of  late  years  for  the  ameli- 
oration of  the  French  Yaudois ;  and  among  the  most 
zealous  workers  in  their  behalf  have  been  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Freemantle,  rector  of  Claydon,  Bucks,  and  Mr.  Edward 
Milsom,  the  well-known  merchant  of  Lyons.  It  was 
in  the  year  1851  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Freemantle  first 
visited  the  Yaudois  of  Dauphiny.  His  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  subject  while  editing  the  memoir  of  a 
young  English  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Spencer  Thornton, 
who  had  taken  Felix  JSTefi"  for  his  model ;  and  he  was 
thereby  induced  to  visit  the  scene  of  Neff's  labours, 
and  to  institute  a  movement  on  behalf  of  the  people  of 
the  French  valleys,  which  has  issued  in  the  erection  of 
schools,  churches,  and  pastors'  dwellings  in  several  of 
the  most  destitute  places. 

It  is  curious  and  interesting  to  trace  the  influence  of 
personal  example  on  human  life  and  action.  As  the 
example  of  Oberlin  in  the  Ban  de  la  Roche  inspired 
Felix  ^qW  to  action,  so  the  life  of  Felix  Kefi"  inspired 
that  of  Spencer  Thornton,  and  eventually  led  Mr. 
Freemantle  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  extending 
evangelization  among  the  Yaudois.  In  like  manner,  a 
young  French  pastor,  M.  Bost,  also  influenced  by  the 
life  and  labours  of  JN'eff',  visited  the  valleys  some  years 
since,  and  wrote  a  book  on  the  subject,  the  perusal  of 
which  induced  Mr.  Milsom  to  lend  a  hand  to  the  work 
which  the  young  Genevese  missionary  had  begun. 
And   thus   good    example   goes    on   ever   propagating 


^- 


300       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

itself;  and  tliougli  tlie  tombstone  may  record  ^' Hie 
jacet''  over  tlie  crumbling  dust  of  the  departed,  bis 
spirit  still  lives  and  works  tbrougb  otber  minds — 
stimulates  tbem  to  action,  and  inspires  tbem  witb 
bope — ''allures  to  brigbter  worlds,  and  leads  tbe 
way." 

A  few  words  as  to  tbe  origin  of  tbese  fragmentary 
papers.  In  cbalking  out  a  summer  boliday  trip,  one 
likes  to  get  quite  away  from  tbe  ordinary  round  of 
daily  life  and  business.  Half  tbe  benefits  of  sucb  a  trip 
consists  in  getting  out  of  tbe  old  ruts,  and  breatbing 
fresb  air  amidst  new  surroundings.  But  tbis  is  very 
difiicult  if  you  follow  tbe  ordinary  tourist's  track. 
London  goes  witb  you  and  elbows  you  on  your  way, 
accompanied  by  swarms  of  commissionaires,  guides, 
and  beggars.  You  encounter  London  people  on  tbe 
Rigbi,  on  tbe  Wengern  Alp,  and  especially  at  Cbamouni. 
Tbink  of  being  asked,  as  I  once  was  on  entering  tbe 
PaviKon  at  Montanvert,  after  crossing  tbe  Mer  de 
Glace  from  tbe  Mauvais  Pas,  "  Pray,  can  you  tell  me 
wbat  was  tbe  price  of  Brigbton  stock  wben  you  left 
town  ?'' 

Tbere  is  no  risk  of  sucb  rencontres  in  Daupbiny, 
wbose  valleys  remain  in  almost  as  primitive  a  state  as 
tbey  were  bundreds  of  years  ago.  Accordingly,  wben 
my  friend  Mr.  Milsom,  above  mentioned,  invited  me  to 
accompany  bim  in  one  of  bis  periodical  visits  to  tbe 
country  of  tbe  Yaudois,  I  embraced  tbe  opportunity 
witb  pleasure.  I  was  cautioned  beforeband  as  to  tbe 
inferior  accommodation  provided  for  travellers  tbrougb 
tbe  district.  Tourists  being  unknown  tbere,  tbe  route 
is  not  padded  and  cusbioned  as  it  is  on  all  tbe  beaten 
continental   rounds.     Englisb   is    not   spoken ;  Bass's 


TOUR  IN  FRANCE.  301 

pale  ale  lias  not  yet  penetrated  into  Daupliiny  ;  nor  do 
you  encounter  London  tourists  carrying  tlieir  tin  baths 
about  witb  tbem  as  you  do  in  Switzerland.  Only  an 
occasional  negotiant  comes  up  from  Gap  or  Grenoble, 
seeking  orders  in  tbe  villages,  for  whom  tbe  ordinary 
auberges  suffice. 

Where  the  roads  are  practicable,  an  old-fashioned 
diligence  may  occasionally  be  seen  plodding  along, 
freighted  with  villagers  bound  for  some  local  market ; 
but  the  roads  are,  for  the  most  part,  as  silent  as  the 
desert. 

Such  being  the  case,  the  traveller  in  the  valleys  must 
be  prepared  to  ''  rough  it"  a  little.  I  was  directed  to 
bring  with  me  only  a  light  knapsack,  a  pair  of  stout 
hob-nailed  shoes,  a  large  stock  of  patience,  and  a  small 
parcel  of  insect  powder.  The  knapsack  and  the  shoes 
I  found  exceedingly  useful,  indeed  indispensable ;  but 
I  had  very  little  occasion  to  draw  upon  either  my 
stock  of  patience  or  insect  powder.  The  French  are 
a  tidy  people,  and  though  their  beds,  stuffed  with 
maize  chaff,  may  be  hard,  they  are  tolerably  clean. 
The  food  provided  in  the  auberges  is  doubtless  very 
different  from  what  one  is  accustomed  to  at  home  ;  but 
with  the  help  of  cheerfulness  and  a  good  digestion 
that  difficulty  too  may  be  got  over. 

Indeed,  among  the  things  that  most  strikes  a  tra- 
veller through  France,  as  characteristic  of  the  people, 
is  the  skill  with  which  persons  of  even  the  poorest 
classes  prepare  and  serve  up  food.  The  French  women 
are  careful  economists  and  excellent  cooks.     Nothino-  is 

o 

wasted.  The  pot  aa  feu  is  always  kept  simmering  on 
the  hob,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  hunch  of  bread,  a  good 
meal  may  at  any  time  be  made  from  it.  Even  in  the 
humblest  auberge,  in  the  least  frequented  district,  the 


302       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

dinner  served  up  is  of  a  quality  such  as  can  very  rarely 
be  liad  in  any  Englisli  public-house,  or  even  in  most 
of  our  country  inns.  Cooking  seems  to  be  one  of  the 
lost  arts  of  England,  if  indeed  it  ever  j)0ssessed  it ; 
and  our  people  are  in  the  habit,  through  want  of 
knowledge,  of  probably  leading  more  food  than  would 
sustain  many  another  nation.  But  in  the  great  system 
of  National  Education  that  is  to  be,  no  one  dreams  of 
including  as  a  branch  of  it  skill  in  the  preparation  and 
economy  in  the  use  of  human  food. 

There  is  another  thing  that  the  traveller  through 
France  may  always  depend  upon,  and  that  is  civility. 
The  politeness  of  even  the  French  poor  to  each  other  is 
charming.  They  respect  themselves,  and  they  respect 
each  other.  I  have  seen  in  France  what  I  have  not 
yet  seen  in  England — young  working  men  walking  out 
their  aged  mothers  arm  in  arm  in  the  evening,  to  hear 
the  band  play  in  the  "Place,"  or  to  take  a  turn  on  the 
public  promenade.  But  the  French  are  equally  polite 
to  strangers.  A  stranger  lady  may  travel  all  through 
the  rural  districts  of  France,  and  never  encounter  a  rude 
look ;  a  stranger  gentleman,  and  never  receive  a  rude 
word.  That  the  French  are  a  self-respecting  people 
is  also  evinced  by  the  fact  that  they  are  a  sober 
l^eople.  ])runkenness  is  scarcely  known  in  France ; 
and  one  may  travel  all  through  it  and  never  witness 
the  degrading  sight  of  a  drunken  man. 

The  French  are  also  honest  and  thrifty,  and  exceed- 
ingly hard-working.  The  industry  of  the  people  is 
unceasing.  Indeed  it  is  excessive ;  for  they  work 
Sunday  and  Saturday.  Sunday  has  long  ceased  to  be 
a  Sabbath  in  France.  There  is  no  day  of  rest  there. 
Before  the  Revolution,  the  saints'  days  which  the 
Church  ordered  to  be  observed  so  encroached  upon  the 


FRENCH  SUNDAY  WORK.  303 

hours  required  for  labour,  tliat  in  course  of  time  Sunday 
became  an  ordinary  working  day.  And  wben  the 
Revolution  abolished  saints'*  days  and  Sabbath  days 
alike,  Sunday  work  became  an  established  practice. 

"What  the  so-called  friends  of  the  working  classes  are 
aiming  at  in  England,  has  already  been  effected  in 
France.  The  public  museums  and  picture-galleries  are 
open  on  Sunday.  But  you  look  for  the  working  people 
there  in  vain.  They  are  at  work  in  the  factories,  whose 
chimneys  are  smoking  as  usual ;  or  building  houses,  or 
working  in  the  fields,  or  they  are  engaged  in  the  various 
departments  of  labour.  The  government  works  all  go 
on  as  usual  on  Sundays.  The  railway  trains  run  pre- 
cisely as  on  week  days.  In  short,  the  Sunday  is 
secularised,  or  regarded  but  as  a  partial  holiday.* 

As  you  pass  through  the  country  on  Sundays,  as 
on  week-days,  you  see  the  people  toiling  in  the  fields. 
And  as  dusk  draws  on,  the  dark  figures  may  be  seen 

*  I  find  the  following  under  the  signature  of  "An  Operative 
Bricklayer,"  in  the  Times  oi  the  30th  July,  1867:  "I  found  there 
were  a  great  number  of  men  in  Paris  that  worked  on  the  buildings 
■who  were  not  residents  of  the  city.  The  bricklayers  are  called 
limousins ;  they  come  from  the  old  province  Le  Limousin,  where  they 
keep  their  home,  and  many  of  them  are  landowners.  They  work  in 
Paris  in  the  summer  time  ;  they  come  up  in  large  numbers,  hire  a, 
place  in  Paris,  and  live  together,  and  by  so  doing  they  live  cheap. 
In  the  winter  time,  when  they  cannot  work  on  the  buildings,  they  go 
back  home  again  and  take  their  savings,  and  stop  there  until  the  spring, 
which  is  far  better  than  it  is  in  London  ;  when  the  men  cannot  work 
they  are  hanging  about  the  streets.  It  was  with  regret  that  I  saw  so 
many  working  on  the  Sunday  desecrating  the  Sabbath.  I  inquired 
why  they  worked  on  Sunday  ;  thej^  told  me  it  w^as  to  make  up  the 
time  they  lose  through  wet  and  other  causes.  I  saw  some  working 
with  only  their  trousers  and  shoes  on,  with  a  belt  round  their  waist  to 
keep  their  trousers  up.  Their  naked  back  was  exposed  to  the  sun, 
and  was  as  brown  as  if  it  had  been  dyed,  and  shone  as  if  it  had  been 
varnished.  I  asked  if  they  had  any  hard-working  hearty  old  men. 
They  answered  me  "No  ;  the  men  were  completely  worn  out  by  the 
time  they  reached  forty  years."  That  was  a  clear  proof  that  they 
work  against  the  laws  of  nature.  I  thought  to  myself — Glory  be  to 
you,  0  Englishmen,  you  know  the  Fourth  Commandment  ;  you  know 
the  value  of  the  seventh  day,  the  day  of  rest !" 


304       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

moving  about  so  long  as  there  is  light  to  see  by.  It  is 
tbe  peasants  working  tbe  land,  and  it  is  their  own. 
Sucb  is  tbe  "magical  influence  of  property,"  said 
Arthur  Young,  when  he  observed  the  same  thing. 

It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  the  French  peasantry 
are  afflicted  with  the  disease  which  Sir  Walter  Scott 
called  the  '* earth-hunger;"  and  there  is  danger  of  the 
gravel  getting  into  their  souls.  Anyhow,  their  con- 
tinuous devotion  to  bodily  labour,  without  a  seventh 
day's  rest,  cannot  fail  to  exercise  a  deteriorating  effect 
upon  their  physical  as  well  as  their  moral  condition  ; 
and  this  we  believe  it  is  which  gives  to  the  men,  and 
especially  to  the  women  of  the  country,  the  look  of  a 
prematurely  old  and  overworked  race. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   VALLEY   OF  THE    ROMANCHE — BRIANCOX. 

THE  route  from  Grenoble  to  tlie  frontier  fortress  of 
Briancon  lies  for  tlie  most  part  up  the  valley  of 
the  Romanche,  which  presents  a  variety  of  wild  and 
beautiful  scenery.  In  summer  the  river  is  confined 
within  comparatively  narrow  limits ;  but  in  autumn  and 
spring  it  is  often  a  furious  torrent,  flooding  the  low- 
lying  lands,  and  forcing  for  itself  new  channels.  The 
mountain  heights  which  bound  it,  being  composed  for 
the  most  part  of  schist,  mica  slate,  and  talcose  slate, 
large  masses  become  detached  in  winter — split  off"  by 
the  freezing  of  the  water  behind  them — when  they 
descend,  on  the  coming  of  thaw,  in  terrible  avalanches 
of  stone  and  mud.  Sometimes  the  masses  are  such  as 
to  dam  up  the  river  and  form  temporary  lakes,  until 
the  accumulation  of  force  behind  bursts  the  barrier, 
and  a  furious  flood  rushes  down  the  valley.  By  one 
of  such  floods,  which  occurred  a  few  centuries  since, 
through  the  bursting  of  the  lake  of  St.  Laurent  in  the 
valley  of  the  Romanche,  a  large  part  of  Grenoble 
was  swept  away,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants  were 
drowned. 

The  valley  of  the  Romanche  is  no  sooner  entered,  a 
few  miles  above  Grenoble,  than  the  mountains  begin 


3o6       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

to  close,  tlie  scenery  becomes  wilder,  and  tlie  fury  of 
the  torrent  is  evinced  by  the  masses  of  debris  strewed 
along  its  bed.  Shortly  after  passing  the  picturesque 
defile  called  L'Etroit,  where  the  river  rushes  through 
a  deep  cleft  in  the  rocks,  the  valley  opens  out  again, 
and  we  shortly  come  in  sight  of  the  ancient  town 
of  Yizille — the  most  prominent  building  in  which  is 
the  chateau  of  the  famous  Due  de  Lesdiguieres,  gover- 
nor of  the  province  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  and 
Constable  of  France  in  that  of  Louis  XIII. 

Wherever  you  go  in  Dauphiny,  you  come  upon  the 
footmarks  of  this  great  soldier.  At  Grenoble  there  is 
the  Constable's  palace,  now  the  Prefecture  ;  and  the 
beautiful  grounds  adjoining  it,  laid  out  by  himself,  are 
now  the  public  gardens  of  the  town.  Between  Grenoble 
and  Yizille  there  is  the  old  road  constructed  by  him, 
still  known  as  "  Le  chemin  du  Connetable.'*  At  St. 
Bonnet,  in  the  valley  of  the  Drac,  formerly  an  almost 
exclusively  Protestant  town,  known  as  *'the  Geneva  of 
the  High  Alps,"  you  are  shown  the  house  in  which 
the  Constable  was  born ;  and  a  little  lower  down  the 
same  valley,  in  the  commune  of  Glaizil,  on  a  hill  over- 
looking the  Drac,  stand  the  ruins  of  the  family  castle, 
where  the  Constable  wiis  buried.  The  people  of  the 
commune  were  in  the  practice  of  carrying  away  the 
bones  from  the  family  vault,  believing  them  to  possess 
some  virtue  as  relics,  until  the  prefect  of  the  High 
Alps  ordered  it  to  be  walled  up  to  prevent  the  entire 
removal  of  the  skeletons. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  career,  Lesdiguieres  was  one 
of  the  most  trusted  chiefs  of  Henry  of  Navarre,  often 
leading  his  Huguenot  soldiers  to  victory  ;  capturing 
town  after  town,  and  eventually  securing  possession  of 


DUC  DE  LESDIGUIERES.  307 

tlie  entire  province  of  Daupliiny,  of  wliich.  Henry  ap- 
pointed him  governor.  In  tliat  capacity  lie  carried 
out  many  important  public  works — made  roads,  built 
bridges,  erected  fourteen  fortresses,  and  enlarged  and 
beautified  bis  palace  at  Grenoble  and  bis  cbateau  at 
Yizille.  He  enjoyed  great  popidarity  during  bis  life, 
and  was  known  tbrougbout  bis  province  as  ''King  of 
tbe  Mountains.''  But  be  did  not  continue  stauncb 
eitber  to  bis  party  or  bis  faitb.  As  in  tbe  case  of  many 
of  tbe  aristocratic  leaders  of  those  times,  Lesdiguieres' 
religion  was  only  skin  deep.  It  was  but  a  party 
emblem — a  flag  to  fight  under,  not  a  faith  to  live  by. 
So,  when  ambition  tempted  him,  and  the  Constable's 
baton  dangled  before  his  eyes,  it  cost  the  old  soldier 
but  little  compunction  to  abandon  the  cause  which  he 
bad  so  brilliantly  served  in  his  youth.  To  secure  the 
prize  which  be  so  coveted,  be  made  public  abjuration  of 
bis  faith  in  the  church  of  St.  Andrew's  at  Grenoble  in 
1622,  in  the  presence  of  the  Marquis  de  Crequi,  the 
minister  of  Louis  XIII.,  who,  immediately  after  Lesdi- 
guieres'  first  mass,  presented  him  with  the  Constable's 
baton. 

But  tbe  Lesdiguieres  family  has  long  since  passed 
away,  and  left  no  traces.  At  the  Revolution,  tbe 
Constable's  tomb  was  burst  open,  and  his  coffin  torn  up. 
His  monument  was  afterwards  removed  to  Gap,  which, 
when  a  Huguenot,  be  had  stormed  and  ravaged.  His 
cbateau  at  Yizille  passed  through  different  hands,  until 
in  1775  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Perier  family, 
to  which  the  celebrated  Casimir  Perier  belonged.  The 
great  Gothic  hall  of  the  cbateau  has  witnessed  many 
strange  scenes.  In  1023,  shortly  after  bis  investment 
as  Constable,  Lesdiguieres  entertained  Louis  XIII.  and 
his  court  there,  while  on  his  journey  into  Italy,  in  the 

21 


3o8        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

course  of  wliicli  lie  so  grievously  ravaged  the  Yaudois 
villages.  In  1788,  the  Estates  of  Dauphiny  met  there, 
and  prepared  the  first  bold  remonstrance  against 
aristocratic  privileges,  and  in  favour  of  popular  repre- 
sentation, which,  in  a  measure,  proved  the  commence- 
ment of  the  great  devolution.  And  there  too,  in  1822, 
Pelix  KefF  preached  to  large  congregations,  who  were 
so  anxious  and  attentive  that  he  always  after  spoke  of 
the  place  as  his  "  dear  Yizille  ; "  and  now,  to  wind  up 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  great  hall,  it  is  used  as  a  place 
for  the  printing  of  Bandana  handkerchiefs  ! 

When  IS^eff  made  his  flying  visits  to  Yizille,  he  was 
temporarily  stationed  at  Mens,  which  was  the  scene  of 
his  first  labours  in  Dauphiny.  The  place  lies  not  far 
from  Yizille,  away  among  the  mountains  towards  the 
south.  During  the  wars  of  religion,  and  more  especially 
after  the  He  vocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  Mens 
became  a  place  of  refuge  fur  the  Protestants,  who  still 
form  about  one-half  of  its  jiopulation.  Although, 
during  the  long  dark  period  of  religious  persecution 
which  followed  the  Revocation,  the  Protestants  of  Mens 
and  the  neighbouring  villages  did  not  dare  to  show 
themselves,  and  worshipped,  if  at  all,  only  in  their 
dwellings,  in  secret,  or  in  ''the  Desert,"  no  sooner  did 
the  Revolution  set  them  at  liberty  than  they  formed 
themselves  again  into  churches,  and  appointed  pastors  ; 
and  it  was  to  serve  them  temporarily  in  that  capacity 
that  Felix  JN^eff  first  went  amongst  them,  and  laboured 
there  and  at  Yizille  with  such  good  effect. 

Kot  far  from  Mens  is  a  place  which  has  made  much 
more  noise  in  the  world — no  other  than  La  Salette,  the 
scene  of  the  latest  Roman  ''miracle."      La  Salette  is 


LA   SALETTE.  309 

one  of  tlie  side-valleys  of  the  large  valley  of  tlie  Drac, 
wliicli  joins  tlie  Romanclie  a  few  miles  above  Grenoble. 
There  is  no  village  of  La  Salette,  but  a  commune, 
which  is  somewhat  appropriately  called  La  Salette- 
Fallavaux,  the  latter  word  being  hovo.  fallax  rallis,  or 
"  the  lying  valley.'' 

About  twenty-seven  years  ago,  on  the  19th  of 
September,  1846,  two  children  belonging  to  the  hamlet 
of  Abladens — the  one  a  girl  of  fourteen,  the  other  a  boy 
of  twelve  years  old — came  down  from  the  lofty  pasturage 
of  Mont  Gargas,  where  they  had  been  herding  cattle, 
and  told  the  following  strange  story,  They  had  seen 
the  Virgin  Mary  descend  from  heaven  with  a  crucifix 
suspended  from  her  neck  by  a  gold  chain,  and  a  ham- 
mer and  pincers  suspended  from  the  chain,  but  without 
any  visible  support.  The  figure  sat  down  upon  a  large 
stone,  and  wept  so  piteously  as  shortly  to  fill  a  large 
pool  with  her  tears. 

When  the  story  was  noised  abroad,  people  came 
from  all  quarters,  and  went  up  the  mountain  to  see 
where  the  Yirgin  had  sat.  The  stone  was  soon  broken 
ofi"  in  chips  and  carried  away  as  relics,  but  the  fountain 
filled  with  the  tears  is  still  there,  tasting  very  much 
like  ordinary  spring  water. 

Two  priests  of  Grenoble,  disgusted  at  what  they 
believed  to  be  an  imposition,  accused  a  young  person 
of  the  neighbourhood,  one  Mdlle.  de  Lamerliere, 
as  being  the  real  author  of  the  pretended  miracle,  on 
which  she  commenced  an  action  against  them  for 
defamation  of  character.  She  brought  the  celebrated 
advocate  Jules  Favre  from  Paris  to  plead  her  cause, 
but  the  verdict  was  given  in  favour  of  the  two  priests. 
The  "  miracle  "was  an  imposture  ! 

Notwithstanding  this  circumstance,  the  miracle  came 


310       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

to  be  generally  believed  in  tbe  neiglibourliood.  Tlie 
number  of  persons  who  resorted  to  tbe  place  with  money 
in  tbeir  pockets  steadily  increased.  The  question  was 
then  taken  up  by  tbe  local  priests,  wbo  voucbed  for 
the  authenticity  of  tbe  miracle  seen  by  tbe  two  children. 
The  miracle  was  next  accepted  by  Rome.*  A  church 
was  built  on  the  spot  by  means  of  the  contributions  of 
the  visitors — L'Eglise  de  la  Salette — and  thither 
pilgrims  annually  resort  in  great  numbers,  the  more 
devout  climbing  the  hill,  from  station  to  station,  on 
their  knees.  As  many  as  four  thousand  persons  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  various  ages,  have  been  known  to  climb 
tlie  hill  in  one  day — on  the  anniversary  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  apparition — notwithstanding  the  extreme 
steepness  and  difficulties  of  the  ascent.  - 

As  a  pendant  to  this  story,  another  may  be  given  of 
an  entirely  different  character,  relating  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  another  commune  in  the  same  valley,  about 
midway  between  La  Salette  and  Grenoble.  In  1860, 
while  the  discussion  about  the  miracle  at  La  Salette  was 
still  in  progress,   the  inhabitants  of  Kotre-Dame-de- 

*  An  authorised  account  was  prepared  by  Cardinal  "Wiseman  for 
English  readers,  entitled  "  JManual  of  the  Association  of  our  Lady  of 
Keconciliation  of  La  Salette,"  and  published  as  a  tract  by  Burns,  17, 
Portman  Street,  in  1853.  Since  I  passed  through  the  country  in 
1869,  the  Germans  have  invaded  France,  the  surrender  has  occurred 
at  Sedan,  the  Commune  has  been  defeated  at  Paris,  but  Our  Lady 
of  La  Salette  is  greater  than  ever.  A  temple  of  enormous  dimensions 
has  risen  in  her  honour ;  the  pilgrims  number  over  100,000  j-early, 
and  the  sale  of  the  -water  from  the  Holy  Well,  said  to  have  sprung 
from  the  Virgin's  tears,  realises  more  than.  £12,000.  Since  the 
success  of  La  Salette,  the  Virgin  has  been  making  repeated  appear- 
ances in  France.  Her  last  appearance  was  in  a  part  of  Alsace  which 
is  strictly  Catholic.  The  Virgin  appeared,  as  usual,  to  a  boy  of  the 
mature  age  of  six,  "  dressed  in  black,  floating  in  the  air,  her  hands 
bound  with  chains," — a  pretty  strong  religio-political  hint.  AVhen 
a  party  of  the  oth  Bavarian  Cavalry  was  posted  in  Bettweiler,  the 
Virgin  ceased  to  make  her  appearance. 


PROTESTANTISM  A  T  COMIERS.       3 1 1 

Comiers,  dissatisfied  with,  tlie  conduct  of  tlieir  cure, 
invited  M.  Fermaud,  pastor  of  the  Protestant  church  at 
Grenoble,  to  come  over  and  preach  to  them,  as  they 
were  desirous  of  embracing  Protestantism.  The  pastor, 
supposing  that  they  were  influenced  by  merely  tempo- 
rary irritation  against  their  cure,  cautioned  the  deputa- 
tion that  waited  upon  him  as  to  the  gravity  of  their 
decision  in  such  a  matter,  and  asked  them  to  reflect 
further  upon  it. 

For  several  years  M.  Fermaud  continued  to  maintain 
the  same  attitude,  until,  in  1865,  a  formal  petition 
was  delivered  to  him  by  the  mayor  of  the  place,  signed 
by  forty-three  heads  of  families,  and  by  nine  out  of  the 
ten  members  of  the  council  of  the  commune,  urorinsr 
him  to  send  them  over  a  minister  of  the  evano-elical 
religion.  Even  then  he  hesitated,  and  recommended 
the  memorialists  to  appeal  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese 
for  redress  of  the  wrongs  of  which  he  knew  they  com- 
plained, but  in  vain,  until  at  length,  in  the  beginning  of 
1868,  with  the  sanction  of  the  consistory  of  Grenoble, 
a  minister  was  sent  over  to  Comiers  to  perform  the  first 
acts  of  Protestant  worship,  including  baptism  and 
marriage  ;  and  it  was  not  until  October  in  the  same 
year  that  Pastor  Fermaud  himself  went  thither  to 
administer  the  sacrament  to  the  new  church. 

The  service  was  conducted  in  the  public  hall  of  the 
commune,  and  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons belonging  to  the  town  and  neighbourhood.  The 
local  clergy  tried  in  vain  to  check  the  movement. 
Quite  recently,  when  the  cure  entered  one  of  the  schools 
to  inscribe  the  names  of  the  children  who  were  to 
attend  their  first  mass,  out  of  fifteen  of  the  proper  age 
eleven  answered  to  the  interrogatory  of  the  priest, 
"Monsieur,  nous  sommes  Protestantes."      The  move- 


3 '2        777^  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

ment  has  also  extended  into  ttie  neiglibouring  com- 
munes, helped  by  tlie  zeal  of  tlie  new  converts,  one  of 
wliom  is  known  in  tlie  neiglibourliood  as  ''  Pere  la 
Bible/'  and  it  is  possible  that  before  long  it  may  even 
extend  to  La  Salette  itself. 

The  route  from  Yizille  up  the  valley  of  the  Romanche 
continues  hemmed  in  by  rugged  mountains,  in  some 
places  almost  overhanging  the  river.  At  Sechilienne 
it  opens  out  sufficiently  to  afford  space  for  a  terraced 
garden,  amidst  which  stands  a  handsome  chateau, 
flanked  by  two  massive  towers,  commanding  a  beautiful 
prospect  down  the  valley.  The  abundant  water  which 
rushes  down  from  the  mountain  behind  is  partly  col- 
lected in  a  reservoir,  and  employed  to  feed  a  jet  cVeaii 
which  rises  in  a  lofty  column  under  the  castle  windows. 
Further  up,  the  valley  again  contracts,  until  the  Gorge 
de  Loirct  is  passed.  The  road  then  crosses  to  the  left 
bank,  and  used  to  be  continued  along  it,  but  the  terrible 
torrent  of  1868  washed  it  away  for  miles,  and  it 
has  not  j'et  been  reconstructed.  Temporary  bridges 
enable  the  route  to  be  pursued  by  the  old  road  on  the 
right  bank,  and  after  passing  through  several  hamlets 
of  little  interest,  we  arrive  at  length  at  the  cultivated 
plain  hemmed  in  by  lofty  mountains,  in  the  midst  of 
which  Bourg  d'Oisans  lies  seated. 

This  little  plain  was  formerly  occupied  by  the  lake 
of  St.  Laurent,  formed  by  the  barrier  of  rocks  and 
debris  which  had  tumbled  down  from  the  flank  of  the 
Petite  Youdene,  a  precipitous  mountain  escarpment 
overhanging  the  river.  At  this  place^  the  strata  are 
laid  completely  bare,  and  may  be  read  like  a  book. 
For  some  distance  along  the  valley  they  exhibit  the 
most   extraordinarv  contortions   and  dislocations,  im- 


BOURG  D'OISANS, 


o':> 


pressing  the  mind  with  the  enormous  natural  forces 
that  must  have  been  at  work  to  occasion  such  tremen- 
dous upheavings  and  disruptions.  Elie  de  Beaumont, 
the  French  geologist,  who  has  carefully  examined  the 
district,  says  that  at  the  Montague  d'Oisans  he  found 
the  granite  in  some  places  resting  upon  the  limestone, 
cutting  through  the  Calcareous  beds,  rising  like  a  wall 
and  lapping  over  them. 

On  arriving  at  Bourg  d'Oisans,  we  put  uj)  at  the 
Hotel  de  Milan  close  by  the  bridge  ;  but  though  digni- 
fied mth  the  name  of  hotel,  it  is  only  a  common  road- 
side inn.  Still,  it  is  tolerably  clean,  and  in  summer  the 
want  of  carpets  is  not  missed.  The  people  were  civil 
and  attentive,  their  bread  wholesome,  their  pottage  and 
bouilli  good — being  sach  fare  as  the  people  of  the 
locality  contrive,  to  live  and  thrive  upon.  The  accom- 
modation of  the  place  is,  indeed,  quite  equal  to  the 
demand  ;  for  very  few  travellers  accustomed  to  a  better 
style  of  living  pass  that  way.  When  the  landlady  was 
asked  if  many  tourists  had  passed  this  year,  she  replied, 
"  Tourists  !  We  rarely  see  such  travellers  here.  You 
are  the  first  this  season,  and  perhaps  you  may  be  the 
last." 

Yet  these  valleys  are  well  worthy  of  a  visit,  and  an 
influx  of  tourists  would  doubtless  have  the  same  effect 
that  it  has  already  had  in  Switzerland  and  elsewhere, 
of  greatly  improving  the  hotel  accommodation  through- 
out the  district.  There  are  many  domestic  arrange- 
ments, costing  very  little  money,  but  greatly  ministering 
to  cleanliness  and  comfort,  which  might  very  readily  be 
provided.  But  the  people  themselves  are  indifferent  to 
them,  and  they  need  the  requisite  stimulus  of  ''  pressure 
from  without."  One  of  the  most  prominent  defects — 
common  to  all  the   inns  cf  Dauphiny — having  been 


314       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

brouglit  under  tlie  notice  of  tlie  landlad}^,  slie  replied, 
"  C'est  vrai,  monsieur  ;  mais — il  laisse  quelque  chose  a 
desirer  ! ''  How  neatly  evaded  !  The  very  defect  was 
itself  an  advantage  !  What  would  life  be — what  would 
hotels  be — if  there  were  not  "  something  left  to  be 
desired !  " 

The  view  from  the  inn  at  the  bridge  is  really  charm- 
ing. The  little  river  which  runs  down  the  valley,  and 
becomes  lost  in  the  distance,  is  finally  fringed  with  trees 
— alder,  birch,  and  chestnut.  Ridge  upon  ridge  of 
mountain  rises  up  behind  on  the  right  hand  and  the 
left,  the  lower  clothed  with  patches  of  green  larch,  and 
the  ui:)per  with  dark  pine.  Above  all  are  ranges  of 
jagged  and  grey  rocks,  shooting  up  in  many  places  into 
loft}^  peaks.  The  setting  sun,  shining  across  the  face  of 
the  mountain  opposite,  brings  out  the  p;rominent  masses 
in  bold  relief,  while  the  vallev  beneath  hovers  between 
light  and  shadow,  changing  almost  from  one  second  to 
another  as  the  sun  goes  down.  In  the  cool  of  the 
evening,  we  walked  through  the  fields  across  the  plain, 
to  see  the  torrent,  visible  from  the  village,  which  rushes 
from  the  rocky  gorge  on  the  mountain-side  to  join  its 
waters  to  the  Romanche.  All  along  the  valleys,  water 
abounds — sometimes  bounding  from  the  heights,  in 
jets,  in  rivulets,  in  masses,  leaping  from  rock  to  rock, 
and  reaching  the  ground  only  in  white  clouds  of  spray, 
or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  little  river  which  flows  along- 
side the  inn  at  the  bridge,  bursting  directly  from  the 
ground  in  a  continuous  spring  ;  these  waterfalls,  and 
streams,  and  springs  being  fed  all  the  year  through  by 
the  immense  glaciers  that  fill  the  hollows  of  the  moun- 
tains on  either  side  the  valley. 

Though  the  scenery  of  Bourg  d'Oisans  is  not,  as  its 
eulogists  allege,  equal  to  that  of  Switzerland,  it  will  at 


GORGE  OF  FRENEF.  515 

least  stand  a  comparison  with  tliat  of  SaA'oy.  Its  moun- 
tains are  more  precipitous  and  abrupt,  its  peaks  more 
jagged,  and  its  aspect  more  savage  and  wild.  The 
scenery  of  Mont  Pelvoux,  w^hich  is  best  approached 
from  Bourg  d'Oisans,  is  especially  grand  and  sublime, 
though  of  a  wild  and  desolate  character.  The  road 
from  Bourg  d'Oisans  to  Briancon  also  presents  some 
magnificent  scenery ;  and  there  is  one  part  of  it  that  is 
not  perhaps  surpassed  even  by  the  famous  Yia  Mala 
leading  up  to  the  Spliigen.  It  is  about  three  miles 
above  Bourg  d'Oisans,  from  which  we  started  early 
next  morning.  There  the  road  leaves  the  plain  and 
enters  the  wild  gorge  of  Freney,  climbing  by  a  steep 
road  up  the  Rampe  des  Commieres.  The  view  from 
the  height  when  gained  is  really  superb,  commanding 
an  extremely  bold  and  picturesque  valley,  hemmed  in 
by  mountains.  The  ledges  on  the  hill-sides  spread  oat 
in  some  places  so  as  to  aiford  sufficient  breadths  for 
cultivation  ;  occasional  hamlets  appear  amidst  the  fields 
and  pine-woods  ;  and  far  up,  between  you  and  the  sky, 
an  occasional  church  spire  peeps  up,  indicating  still 
loftier  settlements,  though  how  the  people  contrive  to 
climb  up  to  those  heights  is  a  wonder  to  the  spectator 
who  views  them  from  below. 

The  route  follows  the  profile  of  the  mountain, 
winding  in  and  out  along  its  rugged  face,  scarped  and 
blasted  so  as  to  form  the  road.  At  one  place  it  passes 
along  a  gallery  about  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  cut 
through  a  precipitous  rock  overhanging  the  river,  which 
dashes,  roaring  and  foaming,  more  than  a  thousand  feet 
below,  through  the  rocky  abyss  of  the  Gorge!  de  I'ln- 
fernet.  Perhaps  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  in  Switzer- 
land finer  of  its  kind  than  the  succession  of  charming 
landscapes  which  meet  the  eye  in  descending  this  pass. 


3i6        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

Beyond  the  village  of  Freney  we  enter  another  defile, 
so  narrow  that  in  places  there  is  room  only   for  the 
river  and  the  road  ;  and  in  winter  the  river  sometimes 
plays  sad   havoc   with   the  .engineer's   constructions. 
Above  this   gorge,    the    Romanche   is  joined   by   the 
Ferrand,  an  impetuous  torrent  which  comes  down  from 
the  glaciers  of  the  Grand  Rousses.     Immediately  over 
their  point  of  confluence,  seated  on  a  lofty  promontory, 
is  the  village  of  Mizoen — a  place  which,  because  of  the 
outlook  it  commands,  as  well  as  because  of  its  natural 
strength,  was  one  of  the  places  in  which  the  Yaudois 
were  accustomed  to  take  refuge  in  the  times  of  the  per- 
secutions.  Further  on,  we  pass  through  another  gallery 
in  the  rock,  then  across  the  little  green  valley  of  Cham- 
bon  to  Le  Dauphin,  after  which  the  scenery  becomes 
wilder,  the  valley — here  called  the  Combe  de  Malaval 
(the  "Cursed   Valley") — rocky  and  sterile,  the  only 
feature  to  enliven  it  being  the  Cascade  de  la   Pisse, 
which  falls  from  a  height  of  over  six  hundred  feet,  first 
in  one  jet,  then  becomes  split  by  a  projecting  rock  into 
two,  and  finally  reaches  the  ground  in  a  shower  of  spray. 
Shortly  after   we   pass  another  cascade,    that   of  the 
Eiftort,  which  also  joins  the  Eomanche,  and  marks  the 
boundary  between  the  department  of  the  Iscre  and  that 
of  the  Ilautes  xilpes,  which  we  now  enter. 

More  waterfalls — the  Sau  de  la  Pucelle,  which  falls 
from  a  height  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  re- 
sembling the  Staubbach  —  besides  rivulets  without 
number,  running  down  the  mountain-sides  like  silver 
threads ;  imtil  we  arrive  at  La  Grave,  a  village  about 
five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  directly  opposite 
the  grand  glaciers  of  Tabuchet,  Pacave,  and  Yallon, 
which  almost  overhang  the  Roman che,  descending  from 
the  steep  slopes  of  the  gigantic  Aiguille  du  Midi,  the 


COL  DE  LAUTERET.  317 

higliest   mountain   in   the  Frencli  A1]3S, — being  over 
13,200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

After  resting  some  two  hours  at  La  Grave,  we  pro- 
ceeded by  the  two  tunnels  under  the  hamlet  of  Yente- 
long — one  of  which  is  650  and  the  other  1,800  feet 
long — to  the  village  of  Yillard  d'Arene,  which,  though 
some  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
is  so  surrounded  by  lofty  mountains  that  for  months 
together  the  sun  never  shines  on  it.  From  thence 
a  gradual  ascent  leads  up  to  the  summit  of  the  Col 
de  Lauteret,  which  di\ides  the  valley  of  the  Eo- 
manche  from  that  of  the  Guisanne.  The  pastures 
along  the  mountain- side  are  of  the  richest  verdure  ; 
and  so  many  rare  and  beautiful  plants  are  found 
growing  there  that  ]\1.  Ptousillon  has  described  it 
as  a  "very  botanical  Eden.''  Here  Jean  Jacques  Rous- 
seau delighted  to  herborize,  and  here  the  celebrated 
botanist  Mathonnet,  originally  a  customs  officer,  born 
at  the  haggard  village  of  Yillard  d'Arene,  which  we 
have  just  passed,  cultivated  his  taste  for  natural  history, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  his  European  reputation. 
The  variety  of  temperature  which  exists  along  the 
mountain-side,  from  the  bottom  to  the  summit,  its  ex- 
posure to  the  full  rays  of  the  sun  in  some  places,  and 
its  sheltered  aspect  in  others,  facilitate  the  growth  of 
an  extraordinary  variety  of  beautiful  plants  and  wild 
flowers.  In  the  low  grounds  meridianal  plants  flourish  ; 
on  the  middle  slopes  those  of  genial  climates ;  while 
on  the  summit  are  found  specimens  of  the  flora  of  Lap- 
land and  Greenland.  Thus  almost  every  variet}^  of 
flowers  is  represented  in  this  brilliant  natural  garden — 
orchids,  cruciferoe,  leguminse,  rosaceoe,  caryophylla?, 
lilies  of  various  kinds,  saxifrages,  anemones,  ranun- 
^  culuses,  swertia,  primula,  and  varieties  of  the  sedum. 


3i8       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

some   of   which  are  peculiar   to   this    mountain,    and 
are  elsewhere  unknown. 

After  passing  the  Hospice  near  the  summit  of  the 
Col,  the  valley  of  the  Guisanne  comes  in  sight,  showing 
a  line  of  bare  and  rugged  mountains  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left,  with  a  narrow  strip  of  land  in  the 
bottom,  in  many  parts  strewn  with  stones  carried  down 
by  the  avalanches  from  the  cliffs  above.  Shortly  we 
come  in  sight  of  the  distant  ramparts  of  Briancon,  ap- 
parently closing  in  the  valley,  the  snow- clad  peak  of 
Monte  Viso  rising  in  the  distimce.  Halfway  between 
the  Col  and  Briancon  we  pass  through  the  village  of 
Monestier,  where,  being  a  saint's  day,  the  bulk  of  the 
population  are  in  the  street,  holding  festival.  The 
place  was  originally  a  Roman  station,  and  the  peoj^le 
still  give  indications  of  their  origin,  being  extremely 
swarthy,  black-haired,  and  large-eyed,  evidently  much 
more  Italian  than  French. 

But  though  the  villagers  of  Monestier  were  taking 
holidaj^,  no  one  can  reproach  them  with  idleness.  Never 
was  there  a  more  hard-working  peo2:)le  than  the 
peasantry  of  these  valleys.  Every  little  patch  of  ground 
that  the  plough  or  spade  can  be  got  into  is  turned  to 
account.  The  piles  of  stone  and  rock  collected  by  the 
sides  of  the  fields  testify  to  the  industry  of  the  people 
in  clearing  the  soil  for  culture.  And  their  farming  is 
carried  on  in  the  face  of  difficulties  and  discouragements 
of  no  ordinary  character,  for  sometimes  the  soil  of  man}" 
of  the  little  farms  will  be  swept  avv' ay  in  a  night  by  an 
avalanche  of  snow  in  winter  or  of  stones  in  spring. 
The  wrecks  of  fields  are  visible  all  along  the  valley, 
especially  at  its  upper  part.  Lower  down  it  widens, 
and  affords  greater  room  for  culture ;  the  sides  of  the 
mountains  become  better  wooded  ;  and,  as  we  approach 


BRIANCON.  310 

the  fortress  of  Briancon,  with  its  battlements  seem- 
ingly piled  one  over  the  other  up  the  mountain-sides, 
the  landscape  becomes  exceedingly  bold  and  picturesque. 

When  passing  the  village  of  Yilleneuve  la  Salle,  a 
few  miles  from  Briancon,  we  were  pointed  to  a  spot  on 
the  opposite  mountain-side,  over  the  pathway  leading  to 
the  Col  de  TEchuada,  where  a  cavern  was  discovered  a 
few  years  since,  which,  upon  examination,  was  found  to 
contain  a  considerable  quantity  of  human  bones.  It  was 
one  of  the  caves  in  which  the  hunted  Yaudois  were 
accustomed  to  take  refuge  during  the  persecutions ; 
and  it  continued  to  be  called  by  the  peasantry  ''  La 
Boche  armee" — the  name  being  thus  perpetuated, 
though  the  circumstances  in  which  it  originated  had 
been  forgotten. 

The  fortress  of  Briancon,  which  we  entered  by  a 
narrow  winding  roadway  round  the  western  rampart,  is 
the  frontier  fortress  which  guards  the  pass  from  Italy 
into  France  by  the  road  over  Mont  Genevre.  It  must 
always  have  been  a  strong  place  by  nature,  overlooking 
as  it  does  the  valley  of  the  Durance  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  mountain  road  from  Italy  on  the  other,  while 
the  river  Clairee,  running  in  a  deep  defile,  cuts  it 
oif  from  the  hiorh  "rround  to  the  south  and  east.  The 
highest  part  of  the  town  is  the  citadel,  or  Fort  du 
Chateau,  built  upon  a  peak  of  rock  on  the  site  of  the 
ancient  castle.  It  was  doubtless  the  nucleus  round 
which  the  early  town  became  clustered,  until  it  filled 
the  lower  plateau  to  the  verge  of  the  walls  and  battle- 
ments. There  being  no  room  for  the  town  to  expand, 
the  houses  are  closely  packed  together  and  squeezed  up, 
as  it  were,  so  as  to  occupy  the  smallest  possible  space. 
The  streets  are  narrow,  dark,  gloomy,  and  steep,  being 
altogether  impassable  for  carriages.     The  liveliest  sight 


320        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

in  the  place  is  a  stream  of  pure  water,  that  rushes  down 
an  open  conduit  in  the  middle  of  the  principal  street, 
which  is  exceedingly  steep  and  narrow.  The  town  is 
sacrificed  to  the  fortifications,  which  dominate  every- 
where. With  the  increasing  range  and  power  of 
cannon,  they  have  been  extended  in  all  directions,  until 
they  occupy  the  flanks  of  the  adjoining  moimtains  and 
many  of  their  summits,  so  that  the  original  castle  now 
forms  but  a  comparatively  insignificant  part  of  the 
fortress.  The  most  important  part  of  the  poj)ulation  is 
the  soldiery — the  red-trousered  missionaries  of  "  civili- 
sation," according  to  the  gospel  of  Louis  Kapoleon, 
published  a  short  time  before  our  visit. 

Other  missionaries,  are,  however,  at  work  in  the  town 
and  nei^rhbourhood ;  and  both  at  Briancon  and  Yil- 
leneuve  Protestant  stations  have  been  recently  estab- 
lished, imder  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Society'  of 
Lyons.  In  former  times,  the  population  of  Briancon 
included  a  large  number  of  Protestants.  In  the  year 
1575,  three  years  after  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
they  were  so  numerous  and  wealthy  as  to  be  able  to 
build  a  handsome  temple,  almost  alongside  the  cathedral, 
and  it  still  stands  there  in  the  street  called  Pue  du 
Temple,  with  the  motto  over  the  entrance,  in  old 
French,  *'  Cerches  et  vos  troveres."  But  at  the  Pevo- 
cation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  the  temple  was  seized 
by  the  King  and  converted  into  a  granary,  and  the 
Protestants  of  the  place  were  either  executed,  banished, 
or  forced  to  conform  to  the  Papal  religion.  Since  then 
the  voice  of  Protestantism  has  been  mute  in  Briancon 
until  within  the  last  few  years,  during  which  a  mission 
has  been  in  operation.  Some  of  the  leading  persons  in 
the  town  have  embraced  the  Peform  faith,  amongst 
others  the  professor  of  literature  in  the  public  college  ; 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE.  ii\ 

but  lie  had  no  sooner  ticknowledged  to  the  authorities 
the  fact  of  his  conversion,  than  he  was  dismissed  from 
his  office,  though  he  has  since  been  appointed  to  a  more 
important  profession  at  Nice.  The  number  of  members 
is,  however,  as  yet  very  small,  and  the  mission  has  to 
contend  with  limited  means,  and  to  carry  on  its  opera- 
tions in  the  face  of  many  obstructions  and  difficulties. 

What  are  the  prospects  of  the  extension  of  Pro- 
testantism in  France  P  Various  answers  have  been 
given  to  the  question.  Some  think  that  the  prevailing 
dissensions  among  French  Protestants  interpose  a 
serious  barrier  in  the  way  of  progress.  Others,  more 
hopeful,  think,  that  these  divisions  are  only  the  indi- 
cations of  renewed  life  and  vigour,  of  the  friction  of 
mind  with  mind,  which  evinces  earnestness,  and  cannot 
fail  to  lead  to  increased  activity  and  effi^rt.  The  obser- 
vations of  a  young  Protestant  pastor  on  this  point  are 
worth  repeating.  "Protestantism,"  said  he,  " is  based 
on  individualism  :  it  recognises  the  free  action  of  the 
human  mind  ;  and  so  long  as  the  mind  acts  freely  there 
will  be  controversy.  The  end  of  controversy  is  death. 
True,  there  is  much  incredulity  abroad  ;  but  the  in- 
credulity is  occasioned  by  the  incredibilities  of  Popery. 
Let  the  ground  once  be  cleared  by  free  inquiry,  and  our 
Church  will  rise  up  amidst  the  ruins  of  superstition  and 
unbelief,  for  man  must  have  religion ;  only  it  must  be 
consistent  with  reason  on  the  one  hand,  and  with  Divine 
revelation  on  the  other.  I  for  one  do  not  fear  the 
fullest  and  freest  inquiry,  having  the  most  perfect  con- 
fidence in  the  triumph  of  the  truth." 

It  is  alleged  by  others  that  the  bald  form  in  which 
Protestantism  is  for  the  most  part  presented  abroad,  is 
not  conformable  with  the  '^  genius  "  of  the  men  of  Celtic 


32  2       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS, 

and  Latin  race.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  too  gene- 
rail}^  tlie  case  that  wliere  Frenchmen,  like  Italians  and 
Spaniards,  throw  off  Roman  Catholicism,  they  do  not 
stop  at  rejecting  its  superstitions,  but  reject  religion 
itself.  They  find  no  intermediate  standpoint  in  Pro- 
testantism, but  fly  off  into  the  void  of  utter  unbelief. 
The  same  tendency  characterizes  them  in  politics.  They 
seem  to  oscillate  between  Ca^sarism  and  Red  Repub- 
licanism ;  aiming  not  at  reform  so  much  as  revolution. 
They  are  averse  to  any  via  media.  When  they  have 
tried  constitutionalism,  they  have  broken  down.  So  it 
has  been  with  Protestantism,  the  constitutionalism  of 
Christianity.  The  Huguenots  at  one  time  constituted 
a  great  power  in  France ;  but  despotism  in  politics  and 
religion  proved  too  strong  for  them,  and  they  were 
persecuted,  banished,  and  stamped  for  a  time  out  of 
existence,  or  at  least  out  of  sight. 

Protestantism  was  more  successful  in  Germany.  Was 
it  because  it  was  more  conformable  to  the  "  genius ''  of 
its  people  ?  When  the  Germans  "  protested  "  against 
the  prevailing  corruptions  in  the  Church,  they  did  not 
seek  to  destroy  it,  but  to  reform  it.  They  "stood  upon 
the  old  ways,"  and  sought  to  make  them  broader, 
straighter,  and  purer.  They  have  pursued  the  same 
course  in  politics.  Cooler  and  less  impulsive  than  their 
Galilean  neighbours,  they  have  avoided  revolutions,  but 
are  constantly  seeking  reforms.  Of  this  course  England 
itself  furnishes  a  notable  example. 

It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  stronghold 
of  Protestantism  in  France  was  recently  to  be  found 
among  the  population  of  Germanic  origin  seated  along 
the  valley  of  the  Rhine;  whereas  in  the  western 
districts  Protestantism  is  split  up  by  the  two  irre- 
concilable  parties   of    Evangelicals   and   Rationalists. 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE.  323 

At  the  same  time  it  slioiild  be  boi^ne  in  mind  that 
Alsace  did  not  become  part  of  France  until  the  year 
.1715,  and  that  the  Lutherans  of  that  province  were 
never  exposed  to  the  ferocious  persecutions  to  which 
the  Evangelical  Protestants  of  Old  France  were  sub- 
jected, before  as  well  as  after  the  Revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  x^ antes. 

In  Languedoc,  in  Dauphiny,  and  in  the  southern 
provinces  generally,  men  and  women  who  professed 
Protestantism  were  liable  to  be  hanged  or  sent  to  the 
galleys,  down  to  nearly  the  end  of  the  last  century. 
A  Protestant  pastor  who  exercised  his  vocation  did  so 
at  the  dailj'-  peril  of  his  life.  Nothing  in  the  shape  of 
a  Protestant  congregation  was  permitted  to  exist,  and 
if  Protestants  worshipped  together,  it  was  in  secret,  in 
caves,  in  woods,  among  the  hills,  or  in  the  *'  Desert." 
Yet  Protestantism  nevertheless  contrived  to  exist 
through  this  long  dark  period  of  persecution,  and  even 
to  increase.  And  when  at  length  it  became  tolerated, 
towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  numbers  of 
its  adherents  appeared  surprising  to  those  who  had 
imagined  it  to  be  altogether  extinct. 

Indeed,  looking  at  the  persistent  efforts  made  by 
Louis  XIY.  to  exterminate  the  Huguenots,  and  to  the 
fact  that  many  hundred  thousand  of  the  best  of  them 
emigrated  into  foreign  countries,  while  an  equal  number 
are  supposed  to  have  perished  in  prison,  on  the  scaffold, 
at  the  galleys,  and  in  their  attempts  to  escape,  it  may 
almost  be  regarded  as  matter  of  wonder  that  the  Eglise 
Peformee — the  Church  of  the  old  Huguenots — should 
at  the  present  day  number  about  a  thousand  congrega- 
tions, besides  the  five  hundred  Lutheran  cono^resrations 
of  Alsatia  ;  and  that  the  Protestants  of  France  should 
amount,  in  the  whole,  to  about  two  millions  of  souls. 

22 


CHAPTER  III. 

YAL    LOUISE HISTORY   OF    FELIX    NEFF. 

OOME  eiglit  miles  soutli  of  Briancon,  on  the  road 
^  to  Fort  Daupliin,  a  little  river  called  the  Gyronde 
comes  down  from  tlie  glaciers  of  Mont  Pelvoiix,  and 
falls  into  tlie  Durance  nearly  opposite  the  Yillage  of 
La  Bessie.  This  river  flows  through.  Yal  Louise,  the 
entrance  into  which  can  be  discerned  towards  the  north- 
west. Near  the  junction  of  the  rivers,  the  ruins  of  an 
embattled  wall,  with  entrenchments,  are  observed  ex- 
tending across  the  valley  of  the  Durance,  a  little  below 
the  narrow  pass  called  the  "  Pertuis-Rostan,'*  evidently 
designed  to  close  it  against  an  army  advancing  from 
the  south.  The  country  people  still  call  these  ruins 
the  "Walls  of  the  Yaudois;"*  and  according  to  tradi- 
tion a  great  Yaudois  battle  was  fought  there ;  but  of 
any  such  battle  history  makes  no  mention. 

Indeed,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  Yaudois  of 
Dauphiny  rarely  if  ever  fought  battles.  The}"  were 
too  few  in   number,  too  much    scattered    among   the 


*  A  gap  in  the  mountain-wall  to  the  left,  nearly  over  Li  Bessie,  is 
still  known  as  "  La  Porte  de  Hannibal,"  through  whicli,  it  is  con- 
jectured, that  general  led  his  army.  But  opinion,  which  is  much 
divided  as  to  the  route  he  took,  is  more  generally  in  favour  of  his 
marching  up  the  Isere,  and  passing  into  Italy  by  the  Little  St. 
Bernard. 


VAL  LOUISE.  325 

mountains,  and  too  poor  and  ill-armed,  to  be  able  to 
contend  against  the  masses  of  disciplined  soldiery  fliat 
were  occasionally  cent  into  tbe  yalleys.  All  tbat  tliey 
did  was  to  watcli,  from  tlieir  mountain  look-outs,  their 
enemies'  approach,  and  hide  themselves  in  caA'cs ;  or 
flee  up  to  the  foot  of  the  glaciers  till  they  had  passed 
by.  The  attitude  of  the  French  Yaudois  was  thus  for 
the  most  part  passive ;  and  they  very  rarely,  like  the 
Italian  Yaudois,  ofiered  any  determined  or  organized 
resistance  to  persecution.  Hence  they  have  no  such 
h  eroic  story  to  tell  of  battles  and  sieges  and  victories. 
Their  heroism  was  displayed  in  patience,  steadfastness, 
and  long-suffering,  rather  than  in  resisting  force  by 
force ;  and  they  were  usually  ready  to  endure  death  in 
its  most  frightfid  forms  rather  than  prove  false  to 
their  faith. 

The  ancient  people  of  these  valleys  formed  part  of 
the  flock  of  the  Archbishop  of  Embrun.     But  history 
exhibits  him  as  a  very  cruel  shepherd.    Thus,  in  1335, 
there  appears  this  remarkable  entry  in  the  accounts 
current  of  the  bailly  of  Embrun :    "  Item,  for  perse- 
cuting the  Yaudois,  eight  sols  and  thirty  deniers  of 
gold,"  as  if  the  persecution  of  the  Yaudois  had  become 
a  regular  department  of  the  public  service.    What  was 
done  with  the  Yaudois  when  they  were  seized  and  tried 
at  Embrun  further  appears  from  the  records  of  the 
diocese.     In  1348,  twelve  of  the  inhabitants  of  Yal 
Louise  were  strangled  at  Embrun  by  the  public  execu- 
tioner ;  and  in  1393,  a  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants 
of  the  same  valley  were  burned  alive  at  the  same  place 
by  order  of  the  Inquisitor  Borelli.     But  the  most  fatal 
of  all  the  events   that  befell  the  inhabitants  of  Yal 
Louise  was  that  which  occurred  about  a  century  later, 
in  1488,  when  nearly  the  whole  of  the  remaining  popu- 


326       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

lation  of  the  valley  were  destroyed  in  a  cavern  near 
tlie  foot  of  Mont  Pelvoux. 

This  dreadful  massacre  was  perpetrated  by  a  French, 
armj^,  under  the  direction  of  Albert  Catanee,  the  papal 
legate.  The  army  had  been  sent  into  Piedmont  with 
the  object  of  subjugating  or  destroying  the  Yaudois  on 
the  Italian  side  of  the  Alps,  but  had  returned  dis- 
comfited to  Briancon,  unable  to  effect  their  object. 
The  legate  then  determined  to  take  his  revenge  bj^  an 
assault  upon  the  helpless  and  unarmed  French  Yaudois, 
and  suddenly  directed  his  soldiers  upon  the  valle^^s  of 
Fressinieres  and  Louise.  The  inhabitants  of  the  latter 
valley,  surprised,  and  unable  to  resist  an  army  of 
some  twenty  thousand  men,  abandoned  their  dwellings, 
and  made  for  the  mountains  with  all  haste,  accompanied 
by  their  families,  and  driving  their  flocks  before  them. 
On  tlie  slope  of  Mont  Pelvoux,  about  a  third  of  the  way 
up,  there  was  formerly  a  great  cavern,  on  the  combe 
of  Capescure,  called  La  Balme-Chapelle — though  now 
nearly  worn  away  by  the  disintegration  of  the  mountain- 
side— in  which  the  poor  hunted  people  contrived  to 
find  shelter.  They  built  up  the  ap^^roaches  to  the 
cavern,  filled  the  entrance  with  rocks,  and  considered 
themselves  to  be  safe.  But  their  confidence  proved 
fatal  to  them.  The  Count  La  Palud,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops,  seeing  that  it  was  impossible  to 
force  the  entrance,  sent  his  men  up  the  mountain  pro- 
vided with  ropes ;  and  fixing  them  so  that  they  should 
hang  over  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  a  number  of  the 
soldiers  slid  down  in  fidl  equipment,  landing  on  the 
ledge  right  in  front  of  the  concealed  Yaudois.  Seized 
with  a  sudden  panic,  and  being  unarmed,  many  of  them 
precipitated  themselves  over  the  rocks  and  were  killed. 
The  soldiers  slaughtered  all  whom  they  could  reach, 


VAL  LOUISE. 


i"- 1 


after  whicli  they  proceeded  to  lieap  up  wood  at  the 
cavern  mouth  which  they  set  on  fire,  and  thus  suffo- 
cated the  remainder.    Perrin  says  four  hundred  chiklren 
were  afterwards  found  in  the  cavern,  stifled,  in  the 
arms  of  their  dead  mothers,  and  that  not  fewer  than 
three  thousand  persons  were  thus  ruthlessly  destroyed. 
The  little  property  of  the  slaughtered   peasants  was 
ordered  by  the  Pope's  legate  to  be  divided  amongst  the 
vagabonds  who  had  carried  out  his  savage  orders.     The 
population  having  been  thus  exterminated,  the  district 
was  settled  anew  some  years  later,  in  the   reign  of 
Louis  XIL,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  valley ;  and  a 
number  of  "good  and  true  Catholics,"  including  many 
goitres  and  idiots,*  occupied   the  dwellings  and  pos- 
sessed the  lands  of  the  slaughtered  Yaudois.     There  is 
an  old  saying  that  "  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the 
seed  of  the  Church,"  but  assuredly  it  does  not  apply  to 
Yal  Louise,  where  the  primitive  Christian  Church  has 
been  completely  extinguished. 

There  were  other  valleys  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood, whither  we  are  now  wending,  where  the  perse-, 
cution,  though  equally  ferocious,  proved  less  destructive ; 
the  inhabitants  succeeding  in  making  their  escape  into 
comparatively  inaccessible  places  in  the  mountaisn 
before  they  could  be  put  to  the  sword.  For  instance,  in 
Yal  Fressiniere — also  opening  into  the  valley  of  the 
Durance  a  little  lower  down  than  Yal  Louise — the 
Yaudois  Church  has  never  ceased  to  exist,  and  to  this 
day  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  belong  to  it.  From 
the  earliest  times  the  people  of  the  valley  were  dis- 
tinguished for  their  "  heresy ; "  and  as  early  as  the 

*  It  has  been  noted  that  these  unfortunates  abound  most  in  the 
villages  occupied  by  the  new  settlers.  Thus,  of  the  population  of  the 
village  of  St.  Crepin,  in  the  valley  of  the  Durance,  not  fewer  than 
one-tenth  are  deaf  and  dumb,  with  a  large  proportion  of  idiots. 


31 8       777^  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

fourteentli  century  eightj^  persons  of  Fressinieres  and 
the  neighbouring  valley  of  Argentieres, — willing  to  be 
martyrs  rather  than  apostates, — were  burnt  at  Embrun 
because  of  their  religion.  In  the  following  century 
(1483)  we  find  ninety-nine  informations  laid  before 
John  Lord  Archbishop  cf  Embrun  against  supposed 
heretics  of  Yal  Fressinieres.  The  suspected  were 
ordered  to  wear  a  cross  upon  their  dress,  before  and 
behind,  and  not  to  appear  at  church  without  dis2)laying 
such  crosses.  But  it  further  appears  from  the  records, 
that,  instead  of  wearing  the  crosses,  most  of  the  persons 
£0  informed  against  fled  into  the  mountains  and  hid 
themselves  away  in  caves  for  the  space  of  five  years. 

The  next  steps  taken  by  the  Archbishop  are  de- 
scribed in  a  Latin  manuscript,*  of  which  the  folloAving 
is  a  translation  : — 

"  Also,  that  in  consequence  of  the  above,  the  monk  Francis  Splireti, 
of  the  order  of  Mendicants,  Professor  in  Theolof?)',  was  deputed  in  the 
quality  of  Inquisitor  of  the  said  valleys  ;  and  that  in  the  year  1489, 
on  the  1st  of  Januar}-,  knowing  that  those  of  Freyssinier  had  relapsed 
into  infamous  heresy,  and  had  not  obeyed  their  orders,  nor  carried 
the  cross  on  their  dress,  but  on  the  contrary  had  received  their  ex- 
communicated and  banished  brethren  without  delivering  them  over  to 
the  Church,  sent  to  them  new  citation,  to  which  not  having  appeared, 
an  adjournment  of  their  condemnation  as  hardened  heretics,  when 
their  goods  would  be  confiscated,  and  themselves  handed  over  to  the 
secular  power,  was  made  to  the  28th  of  June;  but  they  remaining 
more  obstinate  than  ever,  so  much  so  that  no  hope  remains  of  bring- 
ing them  back,  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  hold  any  communication 
whatsoever  with  them  without  permission  of  the  Church,  and  it  was 
ordered  by  tlie  Procureur  Fiscal  that  the  aforesaid  Inquisitor  do  pro- 
ceed, without  further  notice,  to  the  execution  of  his  office." 

What  lihe  execution  of  the  Inquisitor's  office  meant, 
is,  alas !  but  too  well  known.  Bonds  and  imprison- 
ment, scourgings  and  burnings  at  Embrun.  The  poor 
people  appealed  to  the  Kiug  of  France  for  help  against 

*  This  was  one  of  the  MSS.  deposited  by  Samuel  Morland  (Oliver 
Cromwell's  ambassador  to  Piedmont)  at  Cambiidge  in  16l;8,  and  is 
quoted  Ly  Jean  Leger  in  his  History  of  the  Yaudois  Churches. 


VAL  FRESSINIFRES.  329 

tlieir  persecutors,  but  in  vain.  In  1498  the  inhabitants 
of  Fressinieres  appeared  by  a  procurator  at  Paris,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  new  sovereign,  Louis  XII.,  ascend- 
ing the  throne.  But  as  the  King  was  then  seeking  the 
favour  of  a  divorce  from  his  wife,  Anne  of  Brittanj^ 
from  Pops  Alexander  VI.,  he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
their  petition  for  mercy.  On  the  contrary,  Louis  con- 
firmed all  the  decisions  of  the  clergy,  and  in  return  for 
the  divorce  which  he  obtained,  he  granted  to  the  Pope's 
son,  the  infamous  Coosar  Borgia,  that  very  part  of 
Dauphiny  inhabited  by  the  Yaudois,  together  with  the 
title  of  Duke  of  Yalentinois.  They  had  appealed,  as 
it  were,  to  the  tiger  for  mercy,  and  they  were  referred 
to  the  vulture. 

The  persecution  of  the  people  of  the  valleys  thus 
suffered  no  relaxation,  and  all  that  remained  for  them 
was  flight  into  the  mountains,  to  places  where  they 
were  most  likely  to  remain  unmolested.  Hence  they 
fled  up  to  the  very  edge  of  the  glaciers,  and  formed 
their  settlements  at  almost  the  farthest  limits  of 
vegetation.  There  the  barrenness  of  the  soil,  the  in- 
hospitalit}^  of  the  climate,  and  the  comparative  in- 
accessibility of  their  villages,  proved  their  security. 
Of  them  it  might  be  truly  said,  that  they  "  wandered 
about  in  sheep-skins  and  goat-skins  ;  being  destitute, 
afflicted,  tormented  (of  whom  the  world  was  not 
worthy)  ;  they  wandered  in  deserts  and  in  mountains, 
and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth."  Yet  the  character 
of  these  poor  peasants  was  altogether  irreproachable. 
Even  Louis  XII.  said  of  them,  "  Would  to  God  that  I 
were  as  good  a  Christian  as  the  worst  of  these  people  ! " 
The  wonder  is  that,  in  the  face  of  their  long- continued 
persecutions,  extending  over  so  many  centuries,  any 
remnant    of  the   original   population   of    the   valleys 


330       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

sliould  liave  been  preserved.  Long  after  the  time  of 
Louis  XII.  and  Cicsar  Borgia,  the  French  historian, 
De  Thou  (writing  in  1556),  thus  describes  the  people 
of  Val  Fressinieres  :  ''JS^otwithstandlng  their  squalid- 
ness,  it  is  surprising  that  they  are  very  far  from  being 
uncultivated  in  their  morals.  They  almost  all  under- 
stand Latin,  and  are  able  to  write  fairly  enough. 
They  understand  also  as  much  of  French  as  will  enable 
them  to  read  the  Bible  and  to  sing  psalms ;  nor  would 
you  easily  find  a  boy  among  them  who,  if  he  were 
questioned  as  to  the  religious  opinions  which  they 
hold  in  common  with  the  Waldenses,  would  not  be 
able  to  give  from  memory  a  reasonable  account  of 
them."  * 

After  the  promulgation  of  the  Edict  of  ISTantes,  the 
Yaudois  enjoyed  a  brief  respite  from  their  sufferings. 
They  then  erected  temples,  appointed  ministers,  and 
worshipped  openly.  This,  however,  only  lasted  for  a 
short  time,  and  when  the  Edict  was  revoked,  and  per- 
secution began  again,  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIY.,  their 
worship  was  suppressed  wherever  practicable.  But 
though  the  Yaudois  terajjles  were  pulled  down  and 
their  ministers  banished,  the  Roman  Catholics  failed 
to  obtain  a  footing  in  the  valley.  Some  of  the  pas- 
tors continued  to  brave  the  fury  of  the  persecutors, 
and  wandered  about  from  place  to  place  among  the 
scattered  flocks,  ministering  to  them  at  the  peril  of 
their  lives.  Rewards  were  offered  for  their  appre- 
hension, and  a  sort  of  "  Hue  and  Cry  "  was  issued  by 
the  police,  describing  their  age,  and  height,  and 
features,  as  if  they  had  been  veritable  criminals.  And 
when  they  were  apprehended  they  were  invariably 
hanged.     As  late  as  1767  the  parliament  of  Grenoble 

*  De  Thou's  History,  book  xxvii. 


HISTORY  OF  FELIX  NEFF. 


331 


condemned   their   pastor   Berenger  to  death  for   con- 
tinuing to  preach  to  congregations  in  the  ''  Desert.'^ 

This  religious  destitution  of  the  Yaudois  continued 
to  exist  until  a  comparatively  recent  period.  The 
people  were  without  cither  pastors  or  teachers,  and 
religion  had  become  a  tradition  with  them  rather  than 
an  active  living  faith.  Still,  though  poor  and  destitute, 
they  held  to  their  traditional  belief,  and  refused  to 
conform  to  the  dominant  religion.  And  so  thej^  con- 
tinued until  within  the  last  forty  years,  when  the  fact 
of  the  existence,  of  these  remnants  of  the  ancient 
Yaudois  in  the  valleys  of  the  High  Alps  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  Felix  JSTeff,  and  he  determined  to  go  to 
their  help  and  devote  himself  to  their  service. 

One  would  scarcely  expect  to  find  the  apostle  of  the 
High  Alps  in  the  parson  of  a  young  Swiss  soldier  of 
artillerj^  Yet  so  it  was.  In  his  boyhood,  Neff  read 
Plutarch,  which  filled  his  mind  with  admiration  of  the 
deeds  of  the  great  men  of  old.  While  passing  through 
the  soldier  phase  of  his  career  the  *' Memoirs  of  Oberlin" 
accidentally  came  under  his  notice,  the  perusal  of  which 
gave  quite  a  new  direction  to  his  life.  Becoming 
impressed  by  religion,  his  ambition  now  was  to  be 
a  missionary.  Leaving  the  army,-  in  which  he  had 
reached  the  rank  of  sergeant  at  nineteen,  he  proceeded 
to  prepare  himself  for  the  ministry,  and  after  studying 
for  a  time,  and  passing  his  preliminary  examinations, 
he  was,  in  conformity  with  the  custom  of  the  Geneva 
Church,  employed  on  probation  as  a  lay  hel^^er  in 
parochial  work.  In  this  capacity  Neff  first  went  to 
Mens,  in  the  department  of  Isere,  where  he  officiated 
in  the  absence  of  the  regular  pastor,  as  well  as  occa- 
sionally at  Yizilie,  for  a  period  of  about  two  years. 


332       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

It  was  while  residing  at  Mens  that  the  young  mis- 
sionary first  heard  of  the  existence  of  the  scattered 
communities  of  primitive  Christians  on  the  High  Alps, 
descendants  of  the  ancient  Yaudois ;  and  his  mind 
became  inflamed  with  the  desire  of  doine:  for  them 
what  Oberlin  had  done  for  the  poor  Protestants  of  the 
Ban  de  la  Eoche.  ''  I  am  always  dreaminfj  of  the  Iliorh 
Alps/'  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "and  I  would  rather  be 
stationed  there  than  imder  the  beautiful  sky  of 
Languedoc." 

But  it  was  first  necessary  that  he  should  receive 
ordination  for  the  ministry  ;  and  accordingly  in  1823, 
when  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  he  left  Mens  with  that 
object.  .  lie  did  not,  however,  seek  ordination  by  the 
National  Church  of  Geneva,  which,  in  his  opinion,  had 
in  a  great  measure  ceased  to  hold  Evangelical  truth ; 
but  he  came  over  to  London,  at  the  invitation  of  Mr. 
Cook  and  Mr.  Wilks,  two  Congregational  ministers,  by 
whom  he  was  duly  ordained  a  minister  in  the  Inde- 
pendent Chapel,  Poultry. 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  France,  NefP,  much  to  his 
own  satisfaction,  was  invited  as  pastor  to  the  very  dis- 
trict in  which  he  so  much  desired  to  minister — the 
most  destitute  in  the  High  Alps.  Before  setting  out 
he  wrote  in  his  journal,  "  To-morrow,  with  the  blessing 
of  God,  I  mean  to  push  for  the  Alps  by  the  sombre  and 
picturesque  valley  of  L'Oisan.'^  After  a  few  days,  the 
young  pastor  was  in  the  scene  of  his  future  labours  ; 
and  he  proceeded  to  explore  hamlet  after  hamlet  in 
search  of  the  widely-scattered  flock  committed  to  his 
charge,  and  to  arrange  his  plans  for  the  working  of  his 
extensive  parish. 

But  it  was  more  than  a  parish,  for  it  embraced 
several  of  the  most  extensive,  rugged,  and  mountainous 


HISTORY  OF  FELIX  NEFF.  3  3  3 

aiTondissements  of  tlie  High.  Alps.  Though,  the  whole 
number  of  people  iu  his  charge  did  not  amount  to  more 
than  six  or  seven  hundred,  they  lived  at  great  distances 
from  each  other,  the  churches  to  which  he  ministered 
being  in  some  cases  as  much  as  eighty  miles  apart, 
separated  by  gorges  and  mountain-passes,  for  the  most 
part  impassable  in  winter.  Neff's  district  extended  in 
one  direction  from  Yars  to  Briancon,  and  in  another 
from  Champsaur  in  the  valle}^  of  the  Drac  to  San  Yeran 
on  the  slope  of  Monte  Yiso,  close  to  the  Italian  frontier. 
His  residence  was  fixed  at  La  Chalp,  above  Queyras, 
but  as  he  rarely  slept  more  than  three  nights  in  one 
place,  he  very  seldom  enjoyed  its  seclusion. 

The  labour  which  Neff  imposed  upon  himself  was 
immense  ;  and  it  was  especially  in  the  poorest  and  most 
destitute  districts  that  he  worked  the  hardest.  He  dis- 
regarded alike  the  summer's  heat  and  the  winter's  cold. 
His  first  visit  to  Dormilhouse,  in  Yal  Fressinieres, 
was  made  in  January,  when  the  mountain-paths  were 
blocked  with  ice  and  snow ;  but,  assembKng  the  young 
men  of  the  village,  he  went  out  with  them  armed  with 
hatchets,  and  cut  steps  in  the  ice  to  enable  the  worship- 
pers from  the  lower  hamlets  to  climb  up  to  service  in 
the  village  church.  The  people  who  first  came  to  hear 
him  preach  at  Yiolens  brought  wisps  of  straw  with 
them,  which  they  lighted  to  guide  them  through  the 
snow,  while  others,  who  had  a  greater  distance  to  walk, 
brought  pine  torches. 

Nothing  daunted,  the  valiant  soldier,  furnished 
with  a  stout  stafi"  and  shod  with  heavy-nailed  shoes, 
covered  with  linen  socks  to  prevent  slipping  on  the 
snow,  would  set  out  with  his  wallet  on  his  back 
across  the  Col  d'Orcieres  in  winter,  in  the  track  of  the 
Ivnx  and  the  chamois,  with  the  snow  and  sleet  beating 


33+       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

against  Ms  face,  to  visit  his  people  on  ttie  other  side 
of  the  mountain.  His  patience,  his  perseverance,  his 
sweetness  of  temper,  were  unfailing.  ''  Ah  !  "  said  one 
unbelieving  Thomas  of  Yal  Fressinieres  in  his  mountain 
patois,  "  you  have  come  among  us  like  a  woman  who 
attempts  to  kindle  a  fire  with  green  wood  ;  she  exhausts 
her  breath  in  blowing  it  to  keep  the  little  flame  alive, 
but  the  moment  she  quits  it,  it  is  instantly  extin- 
guished." 

Neff  nevertheless  laboured  on  with  hope,  and  neither 
discouragement  nor  obstruction  slackened  his  efforts. 
And  such  labours  could  not  fail  of  their  effect.  lie 
succeeded  in  inspiring  the  simple  mountaineers  with 
his  own  zeal,  he  evoked  their  love,  and  excited  their 
enthusiastic  admiration.  When  he  returned  to  Dormil- 
house  after  a  brief  absence,  the  whole  village  would 
turn  out  and  come  down  the  mountain  to  meet  and 
embrace  him.  ''  The  rocks,  the  cascades,  nay,  the  very 
glaciers,"  he  WTotc  to  a  friend,  *'  all  seemed  animated, 
and  presented  a  smiling  aspect ;  the  savage  country 
became  agreeable  and  dear  to  me  from  the  moment 
its  inhabitants  were  my  brethren." 

Unresting  and  indefatigable,  JS^eff*  was  always  at 
w^ork.  He  exhorted  the  people  in  hovels,  held  schools 
in  barns  in  which  he  taught  the  children,  and  cate- 
chised them  in  stables.  His  hand  was  in  every  good 
work.  He  taught  the  people  to  sing,  he  taught  them 
to  read,  he  taught  them  to  pray.  To  be  able  to  speak 
to  them  familiarly,  he  learnt  their  native  patois,  and 
laboured  at  it  like  a  schoolbcy.  He  worked  as  a  mis- 
sionary among  savages.  The  poor  mountaineers  had 
been  so  long  destitute  of  instruction,  that  everything 
had  as  it  were  to  be  begun  with  them  from  the  begin- 
ning     Sharing  in  their  hovels  and  stables,  with  their 


HISTORY  OF  FELIX  NEFF.  335 

squalor  and  smoke,  he  taught  them  how  to  improve 
them  by  adding  chimneys  and  windows,  and  showed 
how  warmth  might  be  obtained  more  healthfully  than 
by- huddling  together  in  winter-time  with  the  cattle. 
He  taught  them  manners,  and  especially  greater  respect 
for  women,  inculcating  the  lesson  by  his  own  gentle- 
ness and  tender  deference.  Out  of  doors,  he  showed 
how  they  might  till  the  ground  to  greater  advantage, 
and  introduced  an  improved  culture  of  the  potato,  which 
more  than  doubled  the  production.  Observing  how  the 
pastures  of  Dormilhouse  were  scorched  by  the  summer 
sun,  he  urged  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  irrigation. 
The  villagers  were  at  first  most  obstinate  in  their  oppo- 
sition to  his  plans  ;  but  he  persevered,  laid  out  a  canal, 
and  succeeded  at  last  in  enlisting  a  body  of  workmen, 
whom  he  led  out,  pickaxe  in  hand,  himself  taking  a 
foremost  part  in  the  work  ;  and  at  last  the  waters  were 
let  into  the  canal  amidst  joy  and  triumph.  At  Yiolens 
he  helj^ed  to  build  and  finish  the  chapel,  himself  doing 
mason-work,  smith- work,  and  carpenter- work  by  turns. 
At  Dormilhouse  a  school  was  needed,  and  he  showed 
the  villagers  how  to  build  one ;  preparing  the  design, 
and  taking  part  in  the  erection,  until  it  was  finished 
and  ready  for  use.  In  short,  he  turned  his  hand  to 
everything — nothing  was  too  high  or  too  low  for  this 
noble  citizen  of  two  worlds.  At  length  a  serious 
accident  almost  entirely  disabled  him.  While  on  one 
of  his  mountain  journeys,  he  was  making  a  detour 
amongst  a  mass  of  rocky  debris,  to  avoid  the  dangers 
of  an  avalanche,  when  he  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  and 
severely  sprain  his  knee.  He  became  laid  up  for  a 
time,  and  when  able  to  move,  he  set  out  for  his  mother's 
home  at  Geneva,  in  the  hope  of  recovering  health  and 
strength ;  for  his  digestive  powers  were  also  by  this 


336       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

tlmo  seriously  injured.  When  he  went  away,  tlie 
people  of  the  valleys  felt  as  if  they  should  never  see 
him  more ;  and  their  sorrow  at  his  departure  was 
heart-rending.  After  trying  the  baths  of  Plombieres 
without  effect,  he  proceeded  onwards  to  Geneva,  which 
he  reached  only  to  die  ;  and  thus  this  good  and  noble 
soldier — one  of  the  bravest  of  earth's  heroes — passed 
away  to  his  eternal  reward  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
one. 

The  valley  of  Frcssinieres — the  principle  scene  of 
Neff's  labours — ^joins  the  valley  of  the  Durance  nearly 
opposite  the  little  hamlet  of  La  lloche.  There  we 
leave  the  high  road  from  Briancon  to  Fort  Dauphin, 
and  crossing  the  river  by  a  timber  bridge,  ascend  the 
steep  mountain-side  by  a  mule  path,  in  order  to  reach 
the  entrance  to  the  valley  of  Frcssinieres,  the  level  of 
which  is  high  above  that  of  the  Durance.  Xot  many 
years  since,  the  higher  valley  could  only  be  a2:)proached 
from  this  point  by  a  very  difficult  mountain-path  amidst 
rocks  and  stones,  called  the  Ladder,  or  Pas  de  rEchelle. 
It  was  dangerous  at  all  times,  and  quite  impassable  in 
winter.  The  mule-path  which  has  lately  been  made, 
though  steep,  is  comparatively  easy. 

What  the  old  path  was,  and  what  were  the  discom- 
forts of  travelling  through  this  district  in  J^eff's  time, 
may  be  appreciated  on  a  perusal  of  the  narrative  of  the 
young  pastor  Bost,  who  in  1840  determined  to  make  a 
sort  of  pilgrimage  to  the  scenes  of  his  friend's  labours 
some  seventeen  years  before.  M.  Bost,  however,  rather 
exaggerates  the  difficulties  and  discomforts  of  the 
valleys  than  otherwise.  He  saw  no  beauty  nor  grandeur 
in  the  scenery,  only  "  horrible  mountains  in  a  state  of 
dissolution  "  and  constantly  ready  to  fall  upon  the  heads 


PARSONA GE  AT  PAL ONS.  3 3 7 

of  passing  travellers.  He  had  no  eyes  for  tKe  picturesque 
thougli  gloomy  lake  of  La  Roche,  but  saw  only  the 
miserable  hamlet  itself.  He  slept  in  the  dismal 
little  inn,  as  doubtless  Neff  had  often  done  before,  and 
was  horrified  by  the  multitudinous  companions  that 
shared  his  bed  ;  and,  tumbling  out,  he  spent  the  rest  of 
the  night  on  the  floor.  The  food  was  still  worse  — cold 
cafe  noir,  and  bread  eighteen  months  old,  soaked  in 
water  before  it  could  be  eaten.  His  breakfast  that 
morning  made  him  ill  for  a  week.  Then  his  mounting 
up  the  Pas  de  I'Echelle,  which  he  did  not  climb  ''  with- 
out profound  emotion,"  was  a  great  trouble  to  him.  Of 
all  this  we  find  not  a  word  in  the  journals  or  letters  of 
l^eff,  whose  early  life  as  a  soldier  had  perhaps  better 
inured  him  to  "  roughing  it "  than  the  more  tender 
bringing-up  of  Pastor  Best. 

As  we  rounded  the  shoulder  of  the  hill,  almost 
directly  overlookino^  the  ancient  Poman  town  of  Pama 
in  the  valley  of  the  Durance  underneath,  we  shortly 
came  in  sight  of  the  little  hamlet  of  Palons,  a  group  of 
"  peasants'  nests,"  overhung  by  rocks,  with  the  one 
good  house  in  it,  the  comfortable  parsonage  of  the  Pro- 
testant pastor,  situated  at  the  very  entrance  to  the 
valley.  Although  the  peasants'  houses  which  consti- 
tute the  hamlet  of  Palons  are  still  very  poor  and 
miserable,  the  place  has  been  greatly  improved  since 
Nefi''s  time,  by  the  erection  of  the  parsonage.  It  was 
found  that  the  pastors  who  were  successively  appointed 
to  minister  to  the  poor  congregations  in  the  valley  very 
soon  became  unfitted  for  their  work  by  the  hardships 
to  which  they  were  exposed ;  and  being  without  any 
suitable  domestic  accommodation,  one  after  another  of 
them  resigned  their  charge. 

To  remedy  this  defect,  a  movement  was  begun  in 


338       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

1852  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Freemantle,  rector  of  Clay  don, 
Bucks,  assisted  by  the  Foreign  Aid  Society  and  a  few 
private  friends,  with,  the  object  of  providing  pastors' 
dwellings,  as  well  as  chapels  when  req[uired,  in  the 
more  destitute  places.  The  movement  has  already  been 
attended  with  considerable  success ;  and  among  its  first 
results  was  the  erection  in  1857  of  the  comfortable 
parsonage  of  Palons,  the  large  lower  room  of  which 
also  serves  the  purpose  of  a  chapel.  The  present  in- 
cumbent is  M.  Charpiot,  of  venerable  and  patriarchal 
aspect,  whose  white  hairs  are  a  crown  of  glory — a  man 
beloved  by  his  extensive  flock,  for  his  parish  embraces 
the  whole  valley,  about  twelve  miles  in  extent,  includ- 
ing the  four  villages  of  Eibes,  Yiolens,  Minsals,  and 
Dormilhouse  ;  other  pastors  having  been  appointed  of 
late  years  to  the  more  distant  stations  included  in  the 
original  widely- scattered  charge  of  Felix  ISTeff. 

The  situation  of  the  parsonage  and  adjoining  grounds 
at  Palons  is  charmingly  picturesque.  It  stands  at 
the  entrance  to  the  defile  which  leads  into  Yal  Fres- 
sinieres,  having  a  background  of  bold  rocks  enclosing  a 
mountain  plateau  known  as  the  "  Camp  of  Catinat,"  a 
notorious  persecutor  of  the  Yaudois.  In  front  of  the 
parsonage  extends  a  green  field  planted  with  walnut 
and  other  trees,  part  of  which  is  walled  off  as  the 
burying-ground  of  the  hamlet.  Alongside,  in  a  deep 
rocky  gully,  runs  the  torrent  of  the  Biasse,  leaping 
from  rock  to  rock  on  its  way  to  the  valley  of  the 
Durance,  f\ir  below.  This  fall,  or  cataract,  is  not  in- 
appropriately named  the  "  Goufiburan,'^  or  roaring 
gulf;  and  its  sullen  roar  is  heard  all  through  the 
night  in  the  adjoining  parsonage.  The  whole  height 
of  the  fall,  as  it  tumbles  from  rock  to  rock,  is  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty  feet ;  and  about  half-way  down, 


VAL  LOUISE.  339 

'the  water  shoots  into  a  deep,  dark  cavern,  where  it 
becomes  completely  lost  to  sight. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  hamlet  are  a  poor  hard-work- 
ing people,  pursuing  their  industry  after  very  primitive 
methods.  Part  of  the  Biasse,  as  it  issues  from  the 
defile,  is  turned  aside  here  and  there  to  drive  little 
fulling-mills  of  the  rudest  construction,  where  the 
people  '^waulk'^  the  cloth  of  their  own  making.  In 
the  adjoining  narrow  fields  overhanging  the  GoufFouran, 
where  the  ploughs  are  at  work,  the  oxen  are  yoked  to 
them  in  the  old  Roman  fashion,  the  pull  being  by  a 
bar  fixed  across  the  animals'  foreheads. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Palons,  as  at  various  other 
places  in  the  valle}^  there  are  numerous  caverns  which 
served  by  turns  in  early  times  as  hiding-places  and  as 
churches,  and  which  were  not  unfrequently  consecrated 
by  the  Yaudois  with  their  blood.  One  of  these  is  still 
known  as  the  ''Glesia,''  or  ''Eglise,"  Its  opening  is 
on  the  crest  of  a  frightful  precipice,  but  its  diameter 
has  of  late  years  been  considerably  reduced  by  the  dis- 
integration of  the  adjoining  rock.  !N'efF  once  took 
Captain  Cotton  up  to  see  it,  and  chanted  the  Te  Dcuni 
in  the  rude  temple  with  great  emotion. 

Palons  is,  perhaps,  the  most  genial  and  fertile  spot 
in  the  valley ;  it  looks  like  a  little  oasis  in  the 
desert.  Indeed,  ^N^efi"  thought  the  soil  of  the  place  too 
rich  for  the  growth  of  piety.  "Palons,"  said  he  in  his 
journal,  "  is  more  fertile  than  the  rest  of  the  vallej^,  and 
even  produces  wine :  the  consequence  is,  that  there  is 
less  piety  here.''  Neff  even  entertained  the  theory  that 
the  poorer  the  people  the  greater  was  their  humility  and 
fervour,  and  the  less  their  selfishness  and  spiritual  pride. 
Thus,  he  considered  ''the  fertility  of  the  commune  of 
Champsaur,  and  its  proximity  to  the  high  road  and  to 

23 


340        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

Gap,  great  stumbling-blocks "  The  loftiest,  coldest, 
and  most  barren  spots — such  as  San  Yeran  and  Dormil- 
house — were,  in  his  opinion,  by  far  the  most  promising. 
Of  the  former  he  said,  "It  is  the  highest,  and  conse- 
quently the  most  pious,  village  in  the  ralley  of  Queyras ;  '* 
and  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  he  said,  *'  From  the 
first  moment  of  my  arrival  I  took  them  to  my  heart, 
and  I  ardently  desired  to  be  unto  them  even  as  another 
OberlLn/" 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  YAUDOIS  MOUNTAIX-REFUGE  OF  DORMILHOUSE. 

rriHE  Yalley  of  Fressinieres  could  never  have  main- 
-L  tained  a  large  population.  Though  about  twelve 
miles  in  extent,  it  contains  a  very  small  proportion  of 
arable  land — only  a  narrow  strip,  of  varying  width, 
lying  in  the  bottom,  with  occasional  little  patches  of  cul- 
tivated ground  along  the  mountain-sides,  where  the  soil 
has  settled  on  the  ledges,  the  fields  seeming  in  many 
cases  to  hang  over  precipices.  At  the  upper  end  of  the 
valley,  the  mountains  come  down  so  close  to  the  river 
Biasse  that  no  space  is  left  for  cultivation,  and  the 
slopes  are  so  rocky  and  abrupt  as  to  be  unavailable  even 
for  pasturage,  excepting  of  goats. 

Yet  the  valley  seems  never  to  have  been  without  a 
population,  more  or  less  numerous  according  to  the 
rigour  of  the  religious  persecutions  which  prevailed  in 
the  neighbourhood.  Its  comparative  inaccessibility, 
its  inhospitable  climate,  and  its  sterility,  combined  to 
render  it  one  of  the  most  secure  refuges  of  the  Yaudois 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  It  could  neither  be  easily  entered 
by  an  armed  force,  nor  permanently  occupied  by  them. 
The  scouts  on  the  hills  overlooking  the  Durance  could 
always  see  their  enemies  approach,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants were  enabled  to  take  refuge  in  caves  in  the  mount- 


342       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

ain-sides,  or  flee  to  tlie  uppar  parts  of  tlie  valley,  before 
the  soldiers  could  clamber  up  tbe  steep  Pas  de  I'Ecbelle, 
and  reach  the  barricaded  defile  through  which  the 
Biasse  rushes  down  the  rocky  gorge  of  the  GoufFouran. 
When  the  invaders  succeeded  in  penetrating  this  barrier, 
they  usually  found  the  hamlets  deserted  and  the  people 
fled.  They  could  then  only  wreak  their  vengeance  on 
the  fields,  which  they  laid  waste,  and  on  the  dwellings, 
which  they  burned  ;  and  when  the  "  brigands  "  had  at 
length  done  their  worst  and  departed,  the  poor  people 
crept  back  to  their  ruined  homes  to  pray,  amidst  their 
ashes,  for  strength  to  enable  them  to  bear  the  heavy 
afflictions  which  they  were  thus  called  upon  to  sufier  for 
conscience'  sake. 

The  villages  in  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  were 
thus  repeatedly  ravaged  and  destroyed.  But  far  up,  at 
its  extremest  point,  a  difficult  footpath  led,  across  the 
face  almost  of  a  precipice,  which  the  persecutors  never 
ventured  to  scale,  to  the  hamlet  of  Dormilhouse,  seated 
on  a  few  ledges  of  rock  on  a  lofty  mountain-side,  five 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  ;  and  this  place, 
which  was  for  centuries  a  mountain  fastness  of  the 
l^ersecuted,  remains  a  Yaudois  settlement  to  this  day. 

An  excursion  to  this  interesting  mountain  hamlet 
having  been  arranged,  our  little  party  of  five  persons 
set  out  for  the  place  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  July, 
under  the  guidance  of  Pastor  Charpiot.  Though  the 
morning  was  fine  and  warm,  yet,  as  the  place  of  our 
destination  was  situated  well  up  amongst  the  clouds,  we 
were  warned  to  provide  ourselves  with  umbrellas  and 
waterproofs,  nor  did  the  provision  proA'e  in  vain.  We 
were  also  warned  that  there  was  an  utter  want  of  accom- 
modation for  visitors  at  Dormilhouse,  for  which  we 
must  be  prepared.     The  words  scratched  on  the  window 


VAL  FRESSINIERES.  343 

of  the  Norwegian  inn  miglit  indeed  apply  to  it :  ''  Here 
tlie  stranger  may  find  very  good  entertainment — pro- 
vided he  bring  it  icith  him  /"  We  accordingly  carried 
our  entertainment  witli  us,  in  the  form  of  a  store  of 
blankets,  bread,  chocolate,  and  other  articles,  which, 
with  the  traveller's  knapsacks,  were  slung  across  the 
back  of  a  donkey. 

After  entering  the  defile,  an  open  part  of  the  valley 
was  passed,  amidst  which  the  little  river,  at  present 
occupying  very  narrow  limits,  meandered  ;  but  it  was 
obvious  from  the  width  of  the  channel  and  the  debris 
widely  strewn  about,  that  in  winter  it  is  a  roaring  tor- 
rent. A  little  way  up  we  met  an  old  man  coming  down 
driving  a  loaded  donkey,  with  whom  one  of  our  party, 
recognising  him  as  an  old  acquaintance,  entered  into 
conversation.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  made  as  to  the 
progress  of  the  good  cause  in  the  valley,  the  old  man 
replied  very  despondingly.  "  There  was,''  he  said,  ''  a 
great  lack  of  faith,  of  zeal,  of  earnestness,  amongst  the 
rising  generation.  They  were  too  fond  of  pleasures,  too 
apt  to  be  led  away  by  the  fleeting  vanities  of  this 
world."  It  was  only  the  old  story — the  complaint  of 
the  aged  against  the  young.  When  this  old  peasant 
was  a  boy,  his  elders  doubtless  thought  and  said  the 
same  of  him.  The  generation  growing  old  always 
think  the  generation  still  young  in  a  state  of  degene- 
racy. So  it  was  forty  years  since,  when  Felix  Neff  was 
amongst  them,  and  so  it  will  be  fort}''  years  hence.  One 
day  1:^0^  met  an  old  man  near  Mens,  who  recounted 
to  him  the  story  of  the  persecutions  w^hich  his  parents 
and  himself  had  endured,  and  he  added :  "  In  those  times 
there  was  more  zeal  than  there  is  now  ;  my  father  and 
mother  used  to  cross  mountains  and  forests  by  night,  in 
the   worst  weather,   at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  to   be 


344       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

present  at  divine  service  performed  in  secret ;  but 
now  we  are  grown  lazy :  religious  freedom  is  tlie  death- 
blow to  piety." 

An  hour's  walking  brought  us  to  the  principal  hamlet 
of  the  commune,  formerly  called  Fressinieres,  but  now 
known  as  Les  Ribes,  occupying  a  wooded  height  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river.  The  population  is  partly 
Koman  Catholic  and  partly  Protestant.  The  Boman 
Catholics  have  a  church  here,  the  last  in  the  valley,  the 
two  other  places  of  worship  higher  up  being  Protestant. 
The  principal  person  of  Les  Kibes  is  M.  Baridon,  son 
of  the  Joseph  Baridon,  receiver  of  the  commune,  so 
often  mentioned  with  such  affection  in  the  journal  of 
Neff.  He  is  the  only  person  in  the  valley  whose 
position  and  education  give  him  a  claim  to  the  title  of 
''Monsieur;"  and  his  house  contains  the  only  decent 
apartment  in  the  Yal  Pressinieres  where  pastors  and 
visitors  could  be  lodged  previous  to  the  erection,  by 
Mr.  Preemantle,  of  the  pleasant  little  parsonage  at 
Palons.  This  apartment  in  the  Baridons'  house  JN^eff 
used  to  call  the  "  Prophet's  Chamber." 

Half  an  hour  higher  up  the  valley  we  reached  the 
hamlet  of  Yiolens,  where  all  the  inhabitants  are  Pro- 
testants. It  was  at  this  place  that  Neff  helped  to  build 
and  finish  the  church,  for  which  he  designed  the  seats 
and  pulpit,  and  which  he  opened  and  dedicated  on  the 
29th  of  August,  1824,  the  year  before,  he  finally  left 
the  neighbourhood.  Yiolens  is  a  poor  hamlet  situated 
at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  glen,  or  rocky  abyss,  called  La 
Combe ;  the  narrow  valleys  of  Dauphiny,  like  those  of 
Devon,  being  usually  called  combes,  doubtless  from  the 
same  original  Celtic  word  cum,  signifying  a  hollow  or 
dingle. 

A  little  above  Yiolens  the  valley  contracts  almost  to 


VAL  FRESSINIERES.  345 

a  ravine,  until  we  reacli  tlie  miserable  hamlet  of 
Minsals,  so  sKut  in  by  steep  crags  that  for  nine 
montbs  of  the  year  it  never  sees  the  sun,  and  durino- 
several  months  in  winter  it  Kes  buried  in  snow.  The 
hamlet  consists  for  the  most  part  of  hovels  of  mud  and 
stone,  without  windows  or  chimneys,  being  little  better 
than  stables ;  indeed,  in  winter  time,  for  the  sake  of 
warmth,  the  poor  people  share  them  with  their  cattle. 
How  they  contrive  to  scrape  a  living  out  of  the  patches 
of  soil  rescued  from  the  rocks,  or  hung  upon  the  pre- 
cipices on  the  mountain- side,  is  a  wonder. 

One  of  the  horrors  of  this  valley  consists  in  the  con- 
stant state  of  disintegration  of  the  adjoining  rocks, 
which,  being  of  a  slaty  formation,  frequently  break 
away  in  large  masses,  and  are  hurled  into  the  lower 
grounds.  This,  together  with  the  fall  of  avalanches  in 
winter,  makes  the  valley  a  most  perilous  place  to  live 
in.  A  little  above  Minsals,  only  a  few  years  since,  a 
tremendous  fall  of  rock  and  mud  swept  over  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  cultivated  ground,  since  which  many  of 
the  peasantry  have  had  to  remove  elsewhere.  AYhat 
before  was  a  well-tilled  meadow,  is  now  only  a  desolate 
waste,  covered  with  rocks  and  debris. 

Another  of  the  horrors  of  the  place  is  its  liability  to 
floods,  which  come  rushing  down  from  the  mountains,^ 
and  often  work  sad  havoc.  Sometimes  a  fall  of  rocks 
from  the  cliffs  above  dams  up  the  bed  of  the  river,  when 
a  lake  accumulates  behind  the  barrier  until  it  bursts, 
and  the  torrent  swoops  down  the  vallej^,  washing  away 
fields,  and  bridges,  and  mills,  and  hovels. 

Even  the  stouter-built  dwelling  of  M.  Baridon  at 
Les  Kibes  was  nearly  carried  away  by  one  of  such  in- 
undations twelve  years  ago.  It  stands  about  a  hundred 
yards  from  the   mountain- stream  which  comes  down 


346       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

from  the  Pic  de  la  Sea.  One  day  in  summer  a  storm 
burst  over  tlie  mountain,  and  the  stream  at  once  became 
s\\'ollen  to  a  torrent.  The  inmates  of  the  dwelling 
thought  the  house  must  eventually  be  washed  away,  and 
gave  themselves  up  to  prayer.  The  flood,  bearing 
with  it  rolling  rocks,  came  nearer  and  nearer,  until  it 
reached  a  few  old  walnut  trees  on  a  line  with  the 
torrent.  A  rock  of  some  thirty  feet  square  tumbled 
against  one  of  the  trees,  which  staggered  and  bent,  but 
held  fast  and  stopped  the  rock.  The  debris  at  once 
rolled  upon  it  into  a  bank,  the  course  of  the  torrent  was 
turned,  and  the  dwelling  and  its  inmates  were  saved. 
Another  incident,  illustrative  of  the  perils  of  dail}' 
life  in  Yal  Fressinieres,  was  related  to  me  by  Mr. 
Milsom  while  passing  the  scene  of  one  of  the  mud  and 
rock  avalanches  so  common  in  the  valley.  Etienne 
Baridon,  a  member  of  the  same  Les  Ribes  family,  an 
intelligent  young  man,  disabled  for  ordinary  work  by 
lameness  and  deformitj^  occupied  himself  in  teaching 
the  children  in  the  Protestant  school  at  Yiolens, 
whither  he  walked  daily,  accompanied  by  the  pupils 
from  Les  Eibes.  One  da}-,  a  heavy  thunderstorm 
burst  over  the  valley,  and  sent  down  an  avalanche  of 
mud,  debris,  and  boulders,  which  rolled  quite  across 
the  valley  and  extended  to  the  river.  The  news  of 
the  circumstance  reached  Etienne  when  in  school  at 
Yiolens ;  the  road  to  Les  Pibes  was  closed ;  and  he 
was  accordingly  urged  to  stay  over  the  night  with  the 
children.  But  thinking  of  the  anxiety  of  their  parents, 
he  determined  to  guide  them  back  over  the  fall  of  rocks 
if  possible.  Arrived  at  the  place,  he  found  the  mass 
still  on  the  move,  rolling  slowly  down  in  a  ridge  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet  high,  towards  the  river.  Sup- 
ported by  a  stout  staff,  the  lame  Baridon  took  first  one 


DORMILHOUSE.  347 

cliild  and  tlien  another  upon  liis  liump-back,  and  con- 
trived to  carry  tliem  across  in  safety ;  but  wliile  making 
bis  last  journey  witb  the  last  child,  his  foot  slipped  and 
his  leg  got  badl}^  crushed  among  the  still-rolling  stones. 
He  was,  however,  able  to  extricate  himself,  and  reached 
Les  Itibes  in  safety  with  all  the  children.  "  This 
Etienne,"  concluded  Mr.  Milsom,  "was  really  a  noble 
fellow,  and  his  poor  deformed  body  covered  the  soul  of 
a  hero." 

At  length,  after  a  journey  of  about  ten  miles  up  this 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  along  which  the  poor 
persecuted  Yaudois  were  so  often  hunted,  we  reached 
an  apparent  cul-de-sac  amongst  the  mountains,  beyond 
which  further  progress  seemed  impracticable.  Pre- 
cipitous rocks,  with  their  slopes  of  debris  at  foot,  closed 
in  the  valley  all  round,  excepting  only  the  narrow  gullet 
by  which  we  had  come ;  but,  following  the  foot2:)ath,  a 
way  up  the  mountain-side  gradually  disclosed  itself — a 
zigzag  np  the  face  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  sheer  pre- 
cipice— and  this  we  were  told  was  the  road  to  Dormil- 
house.  The  zigzag  path  is  known  as  the  Tourniquet. 
The  ascent  is  long,  steep,  and  fatiguing.  As  we  passed 
up,  we  observed  that  the  j)i'ecipice  contained  many 
narrow  ledges  upon  which  soil  has  settled,  or  to  which 
it  has  been  carried.  Some  of  these  are  very  narrow,  only 
a  few  yards  in  extent,  but  wherever  there  is  room  for  a 
spade  to  turn,  the  little  patches  bear  marks  of  cultiva- 
tion ;  and  these  are  the  fields  of  the  people  of  Dormil- 
house ! 

Far  up  the  mountain,  the  footpath  crosses  in  front 
of  a  lofty  cascade — La  Pisse  du  Dormilhouse — which 
leaps  from  the  summit  of  the  precipice,  and  sometimes 
dashes  over  the  roadway  itself.  Looking  down  into 
the  valley  from  this  point,  we  see  the  Biasse  meander- 


348       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

ing  like  a  tliread  in  the  hollow  of  the  mountains, 
becoming  lost  to  sight  in  the  rayine  near  Minsals. 
We  have  now  ascended  to  a  great  height,  and  the  air 
feels  cold  and  raw.  When  we  left  Palons,  the  sun  was 
shining  brightly,  and  its  heat  was  almost  oppressive, 
but  now  the  temperature  feels  wintry.  On  ovir  way  up, 
rain  began  to  fall ;  as  we  ascended  the  Tourniquet  the 
rain  became  changed  to  sleet ;  and  at  length,  on  reach- 
ing the  summit  of  the  rising  ground  from  which  we 
first  discerned  the  hamlet  of  Dormilhouse,  on  the  first 
day  of  July,  the  snow  was  falling  heavily,  and  all  the 
neighbouring  mountains  were  clothed  in  the  garb  of 
winter. 

This,  then,  is  the  famous  mountain  fastness  of  the 
Yaudois — their  last  and  loftiest  and  least  accessible 
retreat  when  hunted  from  their  settlements  in  the 
lower  valleys  hundreds  of  years  ago.  Driven  from 
rock  to  rock,  from  Alp  to  Alp,  they  clambered  up  on 
to  this  lofty  mountain-ledge,  five  thousand  feet  high, 
and  made  good  their  settlement,  though  at  the  daily 
peril  of  their  lives.  It  was  a  place  of  refuge,  a  fortress 
and  citadel  of  the  faithful,  where  they  continued  to 
worship  God  according  to  conscience  during  the  long 
dark  ages  of  persecution  and  tyranny.  The  dangers 
and  terrors  of  the  situation  are  indeed  so  great,  that  it 
never  could  have  been  chosen  even  for  a  hiding-place, 
much  less  for  a  permanent  abode,  but  from  the  direst 
necessity.  "What  the  poor  people  suffered  while  esta- 
blishing themselves  on  these  barren  mountain  heights 
no  one  can  tell,  but  they  contrived  at  length  to  make 
the  place  their  home,  and  to  become  inured  to  their 
hard  life,  until  it  became  almost  a  second  nature  to 
them. 

The  hamlet  of  Dormilhouse  is  said  to  have  existed 


DORMILHOUSE.  349 

for  nearly  six  liundred  years,  during  whicli  tlie  religion 
of  its  inhabitants  has  remained  the  same.  It  has  been 
alleged  that  the  people  are  the  descendants  of  a  colony 
of  refugee  Lombards  ;  but  M.  Muston,  and  ethers  well 
able  to  judge,  after  careful  inquiry  on  the  spot,  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  bear  all  the  marks  of 
being  genuine  descendants  of  the  ancient  Yaudois.  In 
features,  dress,  habits,  names,  language,  and  religious 
doctrine,  they  have  an  almost  perfect  identity  with  the 
Yaudois  of  Piedmont  at  the  present  day. 

Dormilhouse  consists  of  about  forty  cottages,  in- 
habited by  some  two  hundred  persons.  The  cottages 
are  perched  *'like  eagles'  nests,''  one  tier  ranging  over 
another  on  the  rocky  ledges  of  a  steep  mountain-side. 
There  is  very  little  soil  capable  of  cultivation  in  the 
neighbourhood,  but  the  villagers  seek  out  little  patches 
in  the  valley  below  and  on  the  mountain  shelves,  from 
which  they  contrive  to  grow  a  little  grain  for  home 
use.  The  place  is  so  elevated  and  so  exposed,  that  in 
some  seasons  even  rye  will  not  ripen  at  Dormilhouse, 
while  the  pasturages  are  in  many  places  inaccessible  to 
cattle,  and  scarcely  safe  for  sheep. 

The  principal  food  of  the  people  is  goats'  milk  and 
unsifted  rye,  vi^ich  they  bake  into  cakes  in  the  autumn, 
and  these  cakes  last  them  the  whole  year — the  grain, 
if  left  unbaked,  being  aj)t  to  grow  mouldy  and  spoil  in 
so  damp  an  atmosphere.  Besides,  fuel  is  so  scarce  that 
it  is  necessary  to  exercise  the  greatest  economy  in  its 
use,  every  stick  burnt  in  the  village  having  to  be 
brought  from  a  distance  of  some  twelve  miles,  on  the 
backs  of  donkeys,  by  the  steep  mountain-path  leading 
up  to  the  hamlet.  Hence,  also,  the  imsavoury  means 
which  they  are  under  the  necessity  of  adopting  to 
economize  warmth  in  the  winter,  by  stabling  the  cattle 


350       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

witli  themselves  in  the  cottages.  The  huts  are  for  the 
most  part  wretched  constructions  of  stone  and  mud, 
from  which  fresh  air,  comfort,  and  cleanliness  seem  to 
be  entirely  excluded.  Excepting  that  the  people  are 
for  the  most  part  comfortably  dressed,  in  clothing  of 
coarse  wool,  which  they  dress  and  weave  themselves, 
their  domestic  accommodation  and  manner  of  living  are 
centuries  behind  the  age  ;  and  were  a  stranger  suddenly 
to  be  set  down  in  the  village,  he  could  with  difficulty 
be  made  to  believe  that  he  was  in  the  land  of  civilised 
Frenchmen. 

The  place  is  dreary,  stern,  and  desolate-looking  even 
in  summer.  Thus,  we  entered  it  with  the  snow  falling 
on  the  1st  of  July  !  Few  of  the  balmy  airs  of  the  sweet 
South  of  France  breathe  here.  In  the  hollow  of  the 
mountains  the  heat  may  be  like  that  of  an  oven ;  but 
here,  far  up  on  the  heights,  though  the  air  may  be 
fresh  and  invigorating  at  times,  when  the  wind  blows 
it  often  rises  to  a  hurricane.  Here  the  summer  comes 
late  and  departs  early.  While  flowers  are  blooming  in 
the  valleys,  not  a  bud  or  blade  of  corn  is  to  be  seen  at 
Dormilhouse.  At  the  season  when  vegetation  is  else- 
where at  its  richest,  the  dominant  features  of  the  land- 
scape are  barrenness  and  desolation.  The  very  shapes 
of  the  mountains  are  rugged,  harsh,  and  repulsive. 
Right  over  against  the  hamlet,  separated  from  it  by  a 
deep  gully,  rises  up  the  grim,  bare  Gramusac,  as  black 
as  a  wall,  but  along  the  ledges  of  which,  the  hunters  of 
Dormilhouse,  who  are  very  daring  and  skilful,  do  not 
fear  to  stalk  the  chamois. 

But  if  the  place  is  thus  stern  and  even  ajjpalling  in 
summer,  what  must  it  be  in  winter  ?  There  is  scarcely 
a  habitation  in  the  village  that  is  not  exposed  to  the 
danger  of  being  carried  away  by  avalanches  or  falling 


DORMILHOUSE.  351 

rocks.  The  approach  to  the  mountain  is  closed  by  ice 
and  snow,  while  the  rocks  are  all  tapestried  with  icicles. 
The  tourmente,  or  snow  whirlwind,  occasionally  swoops 
np  the  valley,  tears  the  roofs  from  the  huts,  and  scatters 
them  in  destruction. 

Here  is  a  passage  from  ^N'eif's  journal,  yividly  de- 
scriptive of  winter  life  at  Dormilhouse  : — 

"The  weather  has  been  rigorous  in  the  extreme;  the  falls  of 
snow  are  very  frequent,  and  when  it  becomes  a  little  milder,  a  general 
thaw  takes  place,  and  our  hymns  are  often  sung  amid  the  roar  of  the 
avalanches,  which,  gliding  along  the  smooth  face  of  the  glacier,  hurl 
themselves  from  precipice  to  precipice,  like  vast  cataracts  of  silver." 

Writing  in  January,  he  says  : — 

""We have  been  buried  in  four  feet  of  snow  since  of  1st  of  Xovem- 
•ber.  At  tliis  very  moment  a  terrible  blast  is  whirling  the  snow  in 
thick  blinding  clouds.  Travelling  is  exceedingly  difficult  and  even 
dangerous  among  these  valleys,  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Dormilhouse,  by  reason  of  the  numerous  avalanches  falling  every- 
where  One  Sunday  evening  our  scholars  and  many  of  the 

Dormilhouse  people,  when  returing  home  after  the  sermon  at  Violens, 
narrowly  escaped  an  avalanche.  It  rolled  through  a  narrow  defile 
between  two  groups  of  persons  :  a  few  seconds  sooner  or  later,  and  it 
would  have  plunged  the  flower  of  our  youth  into  the  depths  of  an 

unfathomable  gorge In  fact,  there  are  very  few  habitations  in 

these  parts  which  are  not  liable  to  be  swept  away,  for  there  is  not  a 
spot  in  the  narrow  corner  of  the  valley  which  can  be  considered  abso- 
lutely safe.  But  terrible  as  their  situation  is,  they  owe  to  it  their  re- 
ligion, and  perhaps  their  physical  existence.  If  their  country  had 
been  more  secure  and  more  accessible,  they  would  have  been  extermi- 
nated like  the  inhabitants  of  Val  Louise." 

Such  is  the  interesting  though  desolate  mountain  ham- 
let to  the  service  of  whose  hardy  inhabitants  the  brave 
Felix  Neff  devoted  himself  during  the  greater  part  of 
his  brief  missionary  career.  It  was  characteristic  of 
him  to  prefer  to  serve  them  because  their  destitution 
was  greater  than  that  which  existed  in  any  other 
quarter  of  his  extensive  parish  ;  and  he  turned  from  the 
grand  mountain  scenery  of  Arvieux  and  his  con^fortable 
cottage  at  La  Chalp,  to  spend  his  winters  in  the  dismal 
hovels  and  amidst  the  barren  wastes  of  Dormilhouse. 


352       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

When  Neff  first  went  amongst  them,  the  people  were 
in  a  state  of  almost  total  spiritual  destitution.  They 
had  not  had  any  pastor  stationed  amongst  them  for 
nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  During  all  that 
time  they  had  been  without  schools  of  any  kind,  and 
generation  after  generation  had  grown  up  and  passed 
away  in  ignorance.  Yet  with  all  the  inborn  tenacity 
of  their  race,  they  had  throughout  refused  to  conform 
to  the  dominant  religion.  They  belonged  to  the 
Yaudois  Church,  and  repudiated  Romanism. 

There  was  probably  a  Protestant  church  existing  at 
Dormilhouse  previous  to  the  Revocation,  as  is  shown 
by  the  existence  of  an  ancient  Yaudois  church-bell, 
which  was  hid  away  imtil  of  late  years,  when  it  was 
dug  up  and  hung  in  the  belfry  of  the  j^resent  church. 
In  1745,  the  Roman  Catholics  endeavoured  to  effect  a 
settlement  in  the  place,  and  then  erected  the  existing 
church,  with  a  residence  for  the  cure.  But  the  people, 
though  they  were  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  cure, 
refused  to  enter  his  church.  During  the  twenty  years 
that  he  ministered  there,  it  is  said  the  sole  congrega- 
tion consisted  of  his  domestic  servant,  who  assisted 
him  at  mass. 

The  story  is  still  told  of  the  cure  bringing  up  from 
Les  Ribes  a  large  bag  of  apples — an  impossible  crop  at 
Dormilhouse — by  way  of  tempting  the  children  to  come 
to  him  and  receive  instruction.  But  they  went  only  so 
long  as  the  apples  lasted,  and  when  they  were  gone  the 
children  disappeared.  The  cure  complained  that  during 
the  whole  time  he  had  been  in  the  place  he  had  not 
been  able  to  get  a  single  person  to  cross  himself.  So, 
finding  he  was  not  likely  to  be  of  any  use  there,  he 
petitioned  his  bishop  to  be  allowed  to  leave  ;  on  which, 
his  request  being  complied  with,  the  church  was  closed. 


DORMILHOUSE.  353 

This  continued  until  the  period  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, when  religious  toleration  became  recognised. 
The  Dormilhouse  people  then  took  possession  of  the 
church.  They  found  in  it  several  dusty  images,  the 
basin  for  the  holy  water,  the  altar  candlesticks,  and 
other  furniture,  just  as  the  cure  had  left  them  many 
years  before ;  and  they  are  still  preserved  as  curiosities. 
The  new  occupants  of  the  church  whitewashed  the 
j)ictures,  took  down  the  crosses,  dug  up  the  ol  d  Yaudois 
bell  and  hung  it  up  in  the  belfry,  and  rang  the  villagers 
together  to  celebrate  the  old  worship  again.  But  they 
were  still  in  want  of  a  regular  minister  until  the  period 
when  Felix  Neff  settled  amongst  them.  A  zealous 
young  preacher,  Henry  Laget,  had  before  then  paid 
them  a  few  visits,  and  been  warmly  welcomed ;  and 
when,  in  his  last  address,  he  told  them  they  would  see 
his  face  no  more,  ''it  seemed,"  said  a  peasant  who  re- 
lated the  incident  to  Neff,  "  as  if  a  gust  of  wind  had 
extinguished  the  torch  which  was  to  light  us  in  our 
passage  by  night  across  the  precipice.''  And  even 
JSTeff's  ministry,  as  we  have  above  seen,  only  lasted  for 
the  short  space  of  about  three  years. 

Some  years  after  the  death  of  Neff,  another  attempt 
was  made  by  the  Roman  CathoKcs  to  establish  a  mission 
at  Dormilhouse.  A  priest  went  up  from  Les  Ribes, 
accompanied  by  a  sister  of  mercy  from  Gap — "the 
pearl  of  the  diocese,"  she  was  called — who  hired  a 
room  for  the  purpose  of  commencing  a  school.  To  give 
eclat  to  their  enterprise,  the  Archbishop  of  Embrun 
himself  went  up,  clothed  in  a  purj)le  dress,  riding  a 
white  horse,  and  accompanied  by  a  party  of  men  bear- 
ing a  great  red  cross,  which  he  caused  to  be  set  up  at 
the  entrance  to  the  village.  But  when  the  archbishop 
appeared,  not  a   single  inhabitant  went  out  to  meet 


354       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

him ;  they  had  all  assembled  in  the  church  to  hold  a 
prayer-meeting,  and  it  lasted  during  the  whole  period 
of  his  visit.  All  that  he  accomplished  was  to  set  up 
the  great  red  cross,  after  which  he  went  down  the 
Tourniquet  again :  and  shortly  after,  the  priest  and 
the  sister  of  mercy,  finding  they  could  not  obtain  a 
footing,  also  left  the  Tillage.  Somehow  or  other,  the 
red  cross  which  had  been  set  up  mysteriously  dis- 
appeared, but  how  it  had  been  disposed  of  no  one  would 
ever  reveal.  It  was  lately  proposed  to  commemorate 
the  event  of  the  archbishop's  visit  by  the  erection  of  an 
obelisk  on  the  spot  where  he  had  set  up  the  red  cross ; 
and  a  tablet,  with  a  suitable  inscription,  was  provided 
for  it  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Frcemantle,  of  Claydon.  But 
when  he  was  told  that  the  site  was  exposed  to  the  full 
force  of  the  avalanches  descending  from  the  U23per  part 
of  the  mountain  in  winter,  and  would  speedily  be  swept 
away,  the  project  of  the  memorial  pillar  was  abandoned, 
and  the  tablet  was  inserted,  instead,  in  the  front  wall 
of  the  village  church,  where  it  reads  as  follows  : — 

A    LA    GLOIKE    DE    DIEU 

DONT    DE    LES    TEMl'S    AXCIEXS 

ET    A    TKAVERP    LE    MAKTTK   DE    LEUltS    PEKES 

A   MAIXTEXU 

A    DOKMILHOrSE 

LA   FOI   DOXNE   AUX   SAINTS 

ET   LA    COXXAlSSANCE   DE   LA   PAROLE 

LES    HABITANTS    ONT   ELEVE 

CETTE    PIERKE 

MDCCCLXIV. 

Having  thus  described  the  village  and  its  history,  a 
few  words  remain  to  be  added  as  to  the  visit  of  our 
little  party  of  travellers  from  Palons.  On  reaching  the 
elevated  point  at  which  the  archbishop  had  set  up  the 
red  cross,  the  whole  of  the  huts  lay  before  us,  and  a 


DORMILHOUSE.  355 

little  way  down  tlie  mountain-side  we  discerned  the 
village  cliurch,  distinguished  by  its  little  belfry. 
Leaving  on  our  right  the  Swiss-looking  chalet  with 
overhanging  roof,  in  which  NefF  used  to  lodge  with 
the  Baridon-Yerdure  family  while  at  Dormilhouse,  and 
now  known  as  "  Felix  Xcffs  house,"  we  made  our  way 
down  a  steep  and  stony  footpath  towards  the  school- 
house  adjoining  the  church,  in  front  of  which  we  found 
the  large  ash  trees,  shading  both  church  and  school, 
which  Neff  himself  had  planted.  Arrived  at  the  school- 
house,  we  there  found  shelter  and  accommodation  for 
the  night.  The  schoolroom,  fitted  with  its  forms  and 
desks,  was  our  parlour,  and  our  bedrooms,  furnished 
with  the  blankets  we  had  brought  with  us,  were  in  the 
little  chambers  adjoining. 

At  eight  in  the  evening  the  church  bell  rang  for 
service — the  summoning  bell.  The  peoj)le  had  been 
expecting  the  visit,  and  turned  out  in  full  force,  so 
that  at  nine  o'clock,  when  the  last  bell  rang,  the  cliurch 
was  found  filled  to  the  door.  Every  seat  was  occupied 
— by  men  on  one  side,  and  by  women  on  the  other. 
The  service  was  conducted  by  Mr.  Milsom,  the  mis- 
sionary visitor  from  Lyons,  who  opened  with  prayer, 
then  gave  out  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  which  was  sung 
to  an  accompaniment  on  the  harmonium  ;  then  another 
prayer,  followed  by  the  reading  of  a  chapter  in  the 
New  Testament,  was  wound  up  by  an  address,  in 
which  the  speaker  urged  the  people  to  their  continu- 
ance in  well-doing.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he 
said :  ''Be  not  discouraged  because  the  results  of  your 
labours  may  appear  but  small.  AVork  on  and  faint 
not,  and  God  will  give  the  spiritual  increase.  Pastors, 
teachers,  and  colporteurs  are  too  often  ready  to  despond, 
because  the  fruit  does  not  seem  to  ripen  while  they  are 

24 


356       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS, 

watcliing  it.  But  the  best  fruit  grows  slowly.  Think 
how  the  Apostles  laboured.  They  were  all  poor  men, 
but  men  of  brave  hearts  ;  and  they  passed  away  to 
their  rest  long  before  the  seed  which  they  planted  grew 
np  and  ripened  to  perfection.  Work  on  then  in 
patience  and  hope,  and  be  assured  that  God  will  at 
length  help  you." 

Mr.  Milsom's  address  was  followed  by  another  from 
the  pastor,  and  then  by  a  final  prayer  and  hymn,  after 
which  the  service  was  concluded,  and  the  villagers 
dispersed  to  their  respective  homes  a  little  after  ten 
o'clock.  The  snow  had  ceased  falling,  but  the  sky  was 
still  overcast,  and  the  night  felt  cold  and  raw,  like 
February  rather  than  July. 

The  wonder  is,  that  this  community  of  Dormilhouse 
should  cling  to  their  mountain  ej'rie  so  long  after  the 
necessity  for  their  living  above  the  clouds  has  ceased  ; 
but  it  is  their  home,  and  they  have  come  to  love  it,  and 
are  satisfied  to  live  and  die  there.  Hather  than  live 
elsewhere,  they  will  walk,  as  some  of  them  do,  twelve 
miles  in  the  early  morning,  to  their  work  down  in  the 
valley  of  the  Durance,  and  twelve  miles  home  again, 
in  the  evenings,  to  their  j^erch  on  the  rocks  at  Dormil- 
house. 

They  are  even  proud  of  their  mountain  home,  and 
would  not  change  it  for  the  most  smiling  vineyard  of 
the  plains.  They  are  like  a  little  mountain  clan — all 
Baridons,  or  Michels,  or  Orcieres,  or  Bertholons,  or 
Arnoudd — proud  of  their  descent  from  the  ancient 
Yaudois.  It  is  their  boast  that  a  Roman  Catholic  does 
nofc  live  among  them.  Once,  when  a  young  shepherd 
came  np  from  the  valley  to  pasture  his  flock  in  the 
mountains,  he  fell  in  love  with  a  maiden  of  the 
village,  and  proposed  to  marry  her.     "  Yes,"  was  the 


RETURN  TO  PALONS  357 

answer,  with  tliis  condition,  tliat  lie  joined  the  Yaudois 
Church.  And  he  assented,  married  the  girl,  and  set- 
tled for  life  at  Dormilhouse.* 


The  next  morning  broke  clear  and  bright  overhead. 
The  Sim  shone  along  the  rugged  face  of  the  Gramusac 
right  over  against  the  hamlet,  bringing  out  its  bolder 
prominences.  Far  below,  the  fleecy  clouds  were  still 
rolling  themselves  up  the  mountain -sides,  or  gradually 
dis]Dersing  as  the  sun  caught  them  on  their  emerging 
from  the  valley  below.  The  view  was  bold  and  striking, 
displaying  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery  of  Dormilhouse 
in  one  of  its  best  aspects. 

Setting  out  on  the  return  journey  to  Palons,  we 
descended  the  face  of  the  mountain  on  w^hich  Dormil- 
house stands,  by  a  steep  footpath  right  in  front  of  it, 
down  towards  the  falls  of  the  Biasse.  Looking*  back, 
the  whole  village  appeared  above  us,  cottage  over 
cottage,  and  ledge  over  ledge,  with  its  stern  back- 
ground of  rocky  mountain. 

Immediately  under  the  village,  in  a  hollow  between 
two  shoulders  of  rock,  the  cascade  of  the  Biasse  leaps 
down  into  the  valley.  The  highest  leap  falls  in  a  jet 
of  about  a  hundred  feet,  and  the  lower,  divided  into  two 
by  a  projecting  ledge,  breaks  into  a  shower  of  spray 
which  falls  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  more  into 
the  abyss  below.     Even  in  Switzerland  this  fall  would 


*  Since  the  date  of  our  visit,  we  learn  that  a  sad  accident — strik- 
ingly illustrative  of  the  perils  of  village  life  at  Dormilhouse — has 
befallen  this  young  shepherd,  by  name  Jean  Joseph  Lagier.  One  day 
in  October,  1869,  -while  engaged  in  gathering  wood  near  the  brink  of 
the  precipice  overhanging  Minsals,  he  accidently  fell  over  and  waa 
killed  on  the  spot,  leaving  behind  him  a  widow  and  a  large  family. 
He  was  a  person  of  such  excellent  character  and  conduct,  that  he  had 
been  selected  as  colporteur  for  the  neighbourhood. 


358       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS, 

be  considered  a  fine  object ;  but  in  this  out-of-tbe-way 
place,  it  is  rarely  seen  except  by  the  villagers,  who 
have  water  and  cascades  more  than  enough. 

We  were  told  on  the  spot,  that  some  eighty  years 
since  an  avalanche  shot  down  the  mountain  immediately 
on  to  the  plateau  on  which  we  stood,  carrying  with  it 
nearly  half  the  village  of  Dormilhouse  ;  and  every  year 
the  avalanches  shoot  down  at  the  same  place,  which  is 
strewn  with  the  boulders  and  debris  that  extend  far 
down  into  the  valley. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  Tourniquet  we  joined  M. 
Charpiot,  accompanying  the  donkey  laden  with  the 
blankets  and  knapsacks,  and  proceeded  with  him  on 
our  way  down  the  valley  towards  his  hospitable 
parsonage  at  Palons. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GUILLESTRE    AND    THE    VALLEY   OF    QUEYRAS. 

TX7E  left  Palons  on  a  sharp,  briglit  morning  in  July, 
'  ^  with  the  prospect  of  a  fine  clay  before  ns,  though 
there  had  been  a  fall  of  snow  in  the  night,  which 
whitened  the  tops  of  the  neighbouring  hills.  Follow- 
ing the  road  along  the  heights  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Biasse,  and  passing  the  hamlet  of  Chancellas, 
another  favourite  station  of  jN^eff's,  a  rapid  descent  led 
us  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Durance,  which  we 
crossed  a  little  above  the  village  of  St.  Crepin,  with  the 
strong  fortress  of  Mont  Dauphin  before  us  a  few  miles 
lower  down  the  valley. 

This  remote  corner  in  the  mountains  was  the  scene 
of  much  fighting  in  early  times  between  the  Roman 
Catholics  and  the  Huguenots,  and  afterwards  between 
the  French  and  the  Piedmontese.  It  was  in  this 
neighbourhood  that  Lesdiguieres  first  gave  evidence  of 
his  sldll  and  valour  as  a  soldier.  The  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew  at  Paris  in  1572  had  been  followed  by 
like  massacres  in  various  parts  of  France,  especially  in 
the  south.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  Dauphiny,  deem- 
ing the  opportunity  favourable  for  the  extirpation  of 
the  heretical  Yaudois,  dispatched  the  military  com- 
mandant of  Embrun  against   the   inhabitants  of  Yal 


360       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

Fressinieres  at  tlie  head  of  an  army  of  twelve  liundred 
men.  Lesdiguieres,  then  scarce  twenty-four  yeors  old, 
being  informed  of  their  march,  hastily  assembled  a 
Huguenot  force  in  the  valley  of  the  Drac,  and,  crossing 
the  Col  d'Orcieres  from  Champsaur  into  the  valley  of  the 
Durance,  he  suddenly  fell  upon  the  enemy  at  St.  Crepin, 
routed  them,  and  drove  them  down  the  valley  to 
Embrun.  Twelve  years  later,  during  the  wars  of  the 
League,  Lesdiguieres  distinguished  himself  in  the 
same  neighbourhood,  capturing  Embrun,  Guillestre, 
and  Chateau  Queyras,  in  the  valley  of  the  Guil,  thereby 
securing  the  entire  province  for  his  royal  master, 
Henry  of  Navarre. 

The  strong  fortress  of  Mont  Dauphin,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Guil  with  the  Durance,  was  not  constructed 
until  a  century  later.  Yictor-Amadeus  II.,  when 
invading  tlic  province  with  a  Picdmontese  armj^  at 
sight  of  the  plateau  commanding  the  entrance  of  both 
valleys,  exclaimed,  "  There  is  a  pass  to  fortif3\"  The 
hint  was  not  neglected  by  the  French  general,  Catinat, 
under  whose  directions  the  great  engineer,  Yauban, 
traced  the  plan  of  the  present  fortifications.  It  is  a 
very  strong  place,  comj^letely  commanding  the  vallej^ 
of  the  Durance,  while  it  is  regarded  as  the  key  of 
the  passage  into  Italy  by  the  Guil  and  the  Col  de  la 
Croix. 

Guillestre  is  a  small  old-fashioned  town,  situated  on 
the  lowest  slope  of  the  pine-clad  mountain,  the  Tete  de 
Quigoulet^  at  the  junction  of  the  Eioubel  and  the 
Chagne,  rivulets  in  summer  but  torrents  in  winter, 
which  join  the  Guil  a  little  below  the  town.  Guillestre 
was  in  ancient  times  a  strong  place,  and  had  for  its 
lords  the  Archbishops  of  Embrun,  the  ancient  perse- 
cutors of  the  Yaudois.     The  castle  of  the  archbishop, 


GUILLESTRE.  361 

flanked  by  six  towers,  occupied  a  commanding  site 
immediately  overlooking  the  town  ;  but  at  the  French. 
Revolution  of  1789,  the  first  thing  which  the  arch- 
bishop's flock  did  was  to  pull  his  castle  in  pieces, 
leaving  not  one  stone  upon  another  ;  and,  strange  to 
say,  the  only  walled  enclosure  now  within  its  pre- 
cincts is  the  little  burying-ground  of  the  Guillestre 
Protestants.  One  memorable  stone  has,  however,  been 
preserved,  the  stone  trough  in  which  the  peasants  were 
required  to  measure  the  tribute  of  grain  paj-able  by 
them  to  their  reverend  seigneurs.  It  is  still  to  be 
seen  laid  against  a  wall  in  an  open  space  in  front  of  the 
church. 

It  happened  that  the  fair  of  Guillestre,  which  is  held 
every  two  months,  was  afoot  at  the  time  of  our  visit. 
It  is  frequented  by  the  people  of  the  adjoining  valleys, 
of  which  Guillestre  is  the  centre,  as  well  as  by  Pied- 
montese  from  beyond  the  Italian  frontier.  On  the 
principal  day  of  the  fair  we  found  the  streets  filled 
with  peasants  buying  and  selling  beasts.  They  were 
apparently  of  many  races.  Amongst  them  were  many 
well-grown  men,  some  with  rings  in  their  ears — horse- 
dealers  from  Piedmont,  we  were  told ;  but  the  greater 
number  were  little,  dark,  thin,  and  poorly-fed  peasants. 
Some  of  them,  dark-eyed  and  tawny- skinned,  looked 
like  Arabs,  possibly  descendants  of  the  Saracens  who 
once  occupied  the  province.  There  were  one  or  two 
groups  of  gipsies,  diflering  from  all  else ;  but  the 
district  is  too  poor  to  be  much  frequented  by  people  of 
that  race. 

The  animals  brought  for  sale  showed  the  limited 
resources  of  the  neighbourhood.  One  hill- woman  came 
along  dragging  two  goats  in  milk  ;  another  led  a  sheep 
and  a  goat ;  a  third  a  donkey  in  foal ;  a  fourth  a  cow  in 


362       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

milk  ;  and  so  on.  Tlie  largest  lot  consisted  of  about 
forty  lambs,  of  various  sizes  and  breeds,  wbicb  had 
been  driven  down  from  tbe  cool  air  of  tbe  mountains, 
and,  gasping  with,  heat,  were  cooling  their  heads 
against  the  shady  side  of  a  stone  wall.  There  were 
several  lots  of  pigs,  of  a  bad  but  probably  hardy  sort — 
mostly  black,  round-backed,  long-legged,  and  long- 
eared.  In  selling  the  animals,  there  was  the  usual 
chaffering,  in  shrill  j^atois,  at  the  top  of  the  voice — the 
seller  of  some  poor  scraggy  beast  extolling  its  merits, 
the  intending  buyer  running  it  down  as  a  "  miserable 
bossu,"  &c.,  and  disputing  every  point  raised  in  its 
behalf,  until  the  contest  of  words  rose  to  such  a  height — 
men,  women,  and  even  children,  on  both  sides,  taking 
pait  in  it — that  the  bystander  would  have  thought 
it  impossible  they  could  separate  without  a  fight. 
But  matters  always  came  to  a  peaceable  conclusion,  for 
the  French  are  by  no  means  a  quarrelsome  people. 

There  were  also  various  other  sorts  of  produce  offered 
for  sale — wool,  undressed  sheepskins,  sticks  for  firewood, 
onions  and  vegetable  produce,  and  considerable  quanti- 
ties of  honeycomb  ;  while  the  sellers  of  scythes,  whet- 
stones, caps,  and  articles  of  dress,  seemed  to  meet  with 
a  ready  sale  for  their  wares,  arranged  on  stalls  in  the 
open  space  in  front  of  the  church.  Altogether,  the 
queer  collection  of  beasts  and  their  drivers,  who  were 
to  be  seen  drinking  together  greedily  and  promiscuously 
from  the  fountains  in  the  market-place ;  the  steep 
streets,  crowded  with  lean  goats  and  cows  and  pigs, 
and  their  buyers  and  sellers ;  the  braj^ing  of  donkeys 
and  the  shrieking  of  chafferers,  with  here  and  there  a 
goitred  dwarf  of  hideous  aspect,  presented  a  picture  of 
an  Alpine  mountain  fair,  which,  once  seen,  is  not 
readily  forgotten. 


GUILLESTRE.  363 

There  is  a  similar  fair  lield  at  tlie  village  of  La 
Bessie,  before  mentioned,  a  little  higher  up  the 
Durance,  on  the  road  to  Briancon ;  but  it  is  held  only 
once  a  year,  at  the  end  of  October,  when  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Dormilhouse  come  down  in  a  body  to  lay  in 
their  stock  of  necessaries  for  the  winter.  *'  There  then 
arrives,'^  says  M.  Albert,  "  a  caravan  of  about  the  most 
singular  character  that  can  be  imagined.  It  consists 
of  nearly  the  w^hole  population  of  the  mountain  hamlet, 
who  resort  thither  to  supply  themselves  with  the 
articles  required  for  family  use  during  the  winter, 
such  as  leather,  lint,  salt,  and  oil.  These  poor 
mountaineers  are  provided  with  very  little  money, 
and,  to  procure  the  necessary  commodities,  they 
have  recourse  to  barter,  the  most  ancient  and  primi- 
tive method  of  conducting  trade.  Hence  they  bring 
with  them  rye,  barley,  pigs,  lambs,  chamois  skins 
and  horns,  and  the  produce  of  their  knitting  during 
the  past  year,  to  exchange  for  the  required  articles, 
with  which  they  set  out  homeward,  laden  as  they 
had  come." 

The  same  circumstances  which  have  concurred  in 
making  Guillestre  the  seat  of  the  principal  fair  of  the 
valleys,  led  Felix  Keff  to  regard  it  as  an  important 
centre  of  missionary  operations  amongst  the  Yaudois. 
In  nearly  all  the  mountain  villages  in  its  neighbour- 
hood descendants  of  the  ancient  Yaudois  are  to  be 
found,  sometimes  in  the  most  remote  and  inaccessible 
places,  whither  they  had  fled  in  the  times  of  the  perse- 
cutions. Thus  at  Yars,  a  mountain  hamlet  up  the 
torrent  Kioubel,  about  nine  miles  from  Guillestre, 
there  is  a  little  Christian  community,  which,  though 
under  the    necessity   of  long  concealing   their    faith, 


364       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS 

never  ceased  to  be  Yaudois  in  spirit.*  Then,  np  the 
valley  of  the  Guil,  and  in  the  lateral  valleys  which  join 
it,  there  are,  in  some  places  close  to  the  mountain 
barrier  which  divides  France  from  Italy,  other  villages 
and  hamlets,  such  as  Arvieux,  San  Yeran,  Fongilarde, 
&c.,  the  inhabitants  of  which,  though  they  concealed 
their  faith  subsequent  to  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  never  conformed  to  Roman  Catholicism,  but  took 
the  earliest  opportunity  of  declaring  themselves  openly 
so  soon  as  the  dark  period  of  persecution  had  passed  by. 
The  people  of  these  scattered  and  distant  hamlets 
were,  however,  too  poor  to  supply  themselves  with 
religious  instructors,  and  they  long  remained  in  a  state 
of  spiritual  destitution.  Felix  I^eff's  labours  were  too 
short,  and  scattered  over  too  extensive  a  field,  to  pro- 
duce much  permanent  effect.  Besides,  they  were 
principally  confined  to  the  village  of  Dormilhouse, 
which,  as  being  the  most  destitute,  had,  he  thought, 
the  greatest  claim  upon  his  help  ;  and  at  his  death 
comparatively  little  had  been  done  or  attempted  in  the 
Guillestre  district.  But  he  left  behind  him  what  was 
worth  more  than  any  endowment  of  monej^,  a  noble 
example,  which  still  lives,  and  inspires  the  labourers 
who  have  come  after  him. 

*  The  "well-known  Alpine  missionary,  J.  L.  Rostan,  of  whom  an 
interesting  biography  has  recently  been  published  by  the  Rev.  A.  J. 
French,  for  the  Wesleyan  Conference,  was  a  native  of  Vars.  He  was 
one  of  the  favourite  pupils  of  Felix  Neff,  with  whom  he  resided  at 
Dormilhouse  in  1825-7  ;  NefF  saying  of  him  :  ''Among  the  best  of  m}-- 
pupils,  as  regards  spiritual  things  and  secular  too,  is  Jean  Eostan,  of 
Vars  :  he  is  probablj'  destined  for  the  ministry  ;  such  at  least  is  my 
hope."  Neff  bequeathed  to  him  the  charge  of  his  parish  during  his 
temporary  absence,  but  he  never  returned  ;  and  shortlj'^  after,  Rostan 
left,  to  pursue  his  studies  at  jNfontauban.  He  joined  the  Methodist 
Church,  settled  and  ministered  for  a  time  in  La  Vaunage  and  the 
Cevennes,  afterwards  labouring  as  a  missionary  in  the  High  Alps, 
and  eventually  settled  as  minister  of  the  church  at  Lisieux,  Jersey,  in 
charge  of  which  he  died,  July,  1859. 


GUILLESTRE.  365 

It  was  not  until  within  the  last  twenty  years  that  a 
few  Yaudois  families  of  Guillestre  began  to  meet 
together  for  religious  purposes,  which  they  did  at  first 
in  the  upper  chamber  of  an  inn.  There  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Freemantle  found  them  when  paying  his  first  visit  to 
the  valleys  in  18-51.  He  was  rejoiced  to  see  the  zeal  of 
the  people,  holding  to  their  faith  in  the  face  of  con- 
siderable opposition  and  opprobrium  ;  and  he  exerted 
himself  to  raise  the  requisite  funds  amongst  his  friends 
in  England  to  provide  the  Guillestre  Yaudois  with  a 
place  of  worship  of  their  own.  His  efforts  were 
attended  with  success ;  and  in  1854  a  comfortable 
parsonage,  with  a  commodious  room  for  public  worship, 
was  purchased  for  their  use.  A  fund  was  also  provided 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  settled  ministry ;  a  pastor  was 
appointed ;  and  in  1857  a  congregation  of  from  forty 
to  seventy  persons  attended  worship  every  Sunday. 
Mr.  Freemantle,  in  a  communication  with  which  he 
has  favoured  us,  says :  "  Our  object  has  not  been  to 
make  an  aggression  upon  the  Eoman  Catholics,  but  to 
strengthen  the  hands  and  establish  the  faith  of  the 
Yaudois.  And  in  so  doing  we  have  found,  not  un- 
fi^equently,  that  when  an  interest  has  been  excited 
among  the  Roman  Catholic  population  of  the  district, 
there  has  been  some  family  or  hereditary  connection 
with  ancestors  who  were  independent  of  the  see  of 
RomCj  and  such  haA^e  again  joined  themselves  to  the 
faith  of  their  fathers." 

The  new  movement  was  not,  however,  allowed  to 
proceed  without  great  opposition.  The  "  Momiers," 
or  mummers^ — the  modern  nickname  of  the  Yaudois — 
were  denounced  by  the  cure  of  the  place,  and  the  people 
were  cautioned,  as  they  valued  their  souls'  safety, 
against  giving  any  countenance  to  their  proceedings. 


366        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

Tlie  cure  tvas  doubtless  seriously  impressed  by  tbe 
gravity  of  the  situation ;  and  to  protect  the  parish 
against  the  assaults  of  the  evil  one,  be  bad  a  large  num- 
ber of  crosses  erected  upon  tbe  heights  overlooking  the 
town.  On  one  occasion  he  had  a  bad  dream,  in  which 
he  beheld  the  valley  filled  with  a  vast  assembly  come  to 
be  judged  ;  and  on  the  site  of  the  judgment- seat  which 
he  saw  in  his  dream,  he  set  up,  on  the  summit  of  the  Come 
Chauve,  a  large  tin  cross  hearted  with  wood.  We  were 
standing  in  the  garden  in  front  of  the  parsonage  at 
Guillestre  late  in  the  evening,  when  M.  Schell,  the 
pastor,  pointing  up  to  the  height,  said,  "  There  you  see 
it  now ;  that  is  the  cure's  erection."  The  valley  below 
lay  in  deep  shadow,  while  the  cross  upon  the  summit 
brightly  reflected  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun. 

The  cure,  finding  that  the  "  Momiers"  did  not  cease 
to  exist,  next  adopted  the  expedient  of  preaching  them 
down.  On  the  occasion  of  the  Fete  Napoleon,  1862, 
when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Freemantle  visited  Guillestre  for 
the  purpose  of  being  present  at  the  Yaudois  services  on 
Sunday,  the  10th  of  August,  the  cure  preached  a  special 
sermon  to  his  congregation  at  early  morning  mass, 
telling  them  that  an  Englishman  had  come  into  the 
town  with  millions  of  francs  to  buy  up  the  souls  of 
Guillestre,  and  warning  them  to  abstain  from  such 
men. 

The  people  were  immediately  filled  with  curiosity  to 
know  what  it  was  that  this  stranger  had  come  all  the 
way  from  England  to  do,  backed  by  ''millions  of 
francs."  Many  of  them  did  not  as  yet  know  that  there 
was  such  a  thing  as  a  Yaudois  church  in  Guillestre  ;  but 
now  that  they  did  know,  they  were  desirous  of  ascer- 
taining something  about  the  doctrines  taught  there. 
The  consequence  was,  that  a  crowd  of  people — amongst 


GUILLESTRE.  367 

■whom  were  some  of  the  highest  authorities  in  the  town, 
the  registrar,  the  douaniers,  the  chief  of  a  neighbounng 
commune,  and  persons  of  all  classes — assembled  at  noon 
to  hear  M.  de  Faje,  the  Protestant  pastor,  who  preached 
to  them  an  excellent  sermon  under  the  trees  of  the 
parsonage  orchard,  while  a  still  larger  number  attended 
in  the  afternoon. 

When  the  cure  heard  of  the  conduct  of  his  flock  he 
was  greatly  annoyed.  "  What  did  you  hear  from  the 
heretics  ?''  he  asked  of  one  of  the  delinquents.  ''  I  heard 
your  sermon  in  the  morning,  and  a  sermon  upon  charity 
in  the  afternoon,'*  was  the  reply. 

Great  were  the  surprise  and  excitement  in  Guillestre 
when  it  became  known  that  the  principal  sergeant  of 
gendarmerie — the  very  embodiment  of  law  and  order 
in  the  place — had  gone  over  and  joined  the  "  Momiers" 
with  his  wife  and  flimily.  M.  Laugier  was  quite  a 
model  gendarme.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  character, 
steady,  sensible,  and  patient,  a  diligent  self-improver, 
a  reader  of  books,  a  botanist,  and  a  bit  of  a  geologist.  He 
knew  all  the  rare  mountain  plants,  and  had  a  collection 
of  those  that  would  bear  transplantation,  in  his  garden 
at  the  back  of  the  town,  Xo  man  was  more  respected 
in  Guillestre  than  the  sergeant.  His  long  and  faithful 
service  entitled  him  to  the  medaille  miiitaire,  and  it 
would  have  been  awarded  to  him,  but  for  the  circum- 
stance which  came  to  light,  and  which  he  did  not  seek 
to  conceal,  that  he  had  joined  the  Protestant  connexion. 
Not  only  was  the  medal  withheld,  but  influence  was 
used  to  get  him  sent  away  from  the  place  ;  and  he  was 
packed  ofi"  to  a  station  in  the  mountains  at  Chateau 
Queyras. 

Though  this  banishment  from  Guillestre  was  intended 
as  a  pmiisbment,  it  only  served  to  bring  out  the  sterling 


368       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

qualities  of  the  sergeant,  and  to  ensure  li.s  eventual 
reward.  It  so  happened  that  the  station  at  Chateau 
Queyras  commanded  the  approaches  into  an  extensive 
range  of  mountain  pasturage.  Although  not  required 
specially  to  attend  to  their  safety,  our  sergeant  had 
nevertheless  carefully  noted  the  flocks  and  herds  as 
they  Trent  up  the  valleys  in  the  spring.  When  winter 
approached,  they  were  all  brought  down  again  from 
the  mountains  for  safety. 

The  winter  of  that  year  set  in  early  and  severely. 
The  sergeant,  making  his  observations  on  the  flocks  as 
they  passed  down  the  valley,  noted  that  one  large  flock 
of  about  three  thousand  sheep  had  not  yet  made  its  ap- 
pearance. The  mountains  were  now  covered  with  snow, 
and  he  apprehended  that  the  sheep  and  their  shepherds 
had  been  storm-stayed.  Summoning  to  his  assistance  a 
body  of  men,  he  set  out  at  their  head  in  search  of  the 
lost  flock.  After  a  long,  laborious,  and  dangerous 
journey — for  the  snow  by  this  time  lay  deep  in  the 
hollows  of  the  hills — he  succeeded  in  discovering  the 
shepherds  and  the  sheep,  almost  reduced  to  their  last 
gasp — the  sheep,  for  want  of  food,  actually  gnawing 
each  other's  tails.  With  great  difficulty  the  whole 
were  extricated  from  their  perilous  position,  and 
brought  down  the  mountains  in  safety. 

No  representation  was  made  to  head-quarters  by  the 
authorities  of  Guillestre  of  the  conduct  of  the  Protestant 
sergeant  in  the  matter ;  but  when  the  shepherds  got 
down  to  Gap,  they  were  so  full  of  the  sergeant's 
praises,  and  of  his  bravery  in  rescuing  them  and  their 
flock  from  certain  death,  that  a  paragraph  descriptive 
of  the  afllxir  was  inserted  in  the  local  papers,  and  was 
eventually  copied  into  the  Parisian  journals.  Then  it 
was  that  an  inquiry  was  made  into  his  conduct,  and  the 


GUILLESTRE  CHURCH  AND  SCHOOL.    369 

result  was  so  satisfactory  tliat  the  sergeant  was  at  once 
decorated  not  only  with  the  medaille  militaire,  but  with 
the  medaille  de  sauvetage — a  still  higher  honour  ;  and, 
shortly  after,  he  was  allowed  to  retire  from  the  service 
on  full  pay.  He  then  returned  to  his  home  and  family 
at  Guillestre,  Avhere  he  now  officiates  as  Regent  of  the 
Yaudois  church,  reading  fhe  prayers  and  conducting 
the  service  in  the  absence  of  the  stated  minister. 

We  spent  a  Sunday  in  the  comfortable  parsonage  at 
Guillestre.  There  was  divine  service  in  the  temple  at 
half-past  ten  a.m.,  conducted  by  the  regular  pastor,  M. 
Schell,  and  instruction  and  catechizing  of  the  children 
in  the  afternoon.  The  pastor's  regular  work  consists 
of  two  services  at  Guillestre  and  Yars  on  alternate 
Sundays,  with  Sunday-school  and  singing  lesson  ;  and 
on  week  days  he  gives  religious  instruction  in  the 
Guillestre  school.  The  missionary's  wife  is  a  true 
"  helpmeet,''  and  having  been  trained  as  a  deaconess 
at  Strasbourg,  she  regularly  visits  the  poor,  occasionally 
assisting  them  with  medical  advice. 

Another  important  part  of  the  work  at  Guillestre  is 
the  girls'  school,  for  which  suitable  premises  have  been 
taken ;  and  it  is  conducted  by  an  excellent  female 
teacher.  Here  not  only  the  usual  branches  of  education 
are  taught,  but  domestic  industry  of  different  kinds. 
Through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Milsom,  gloA^e- 
sewing  has  been  taught  to  the  girls,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  by  this  and  similar  efforts  this  branch  of  home 
manufacture  may  become  introduced  in  the  High  Alps, 
and  furnish  profitable  employment  to  many  poor  per- 
sons during  their  long  and  dreary  winter. 

By  the  aid  of  a  special  fund,  a  few  girl  boarders, 
belonging  to  scattered  Protestant  families  who  have  no 


370       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

otlier  means  for  the  education  of  their  cliildren,  are  also 
received  at  tlie  scliool.  The  girls  seem  to  be  extremely 
well  taken  care  of,  and  the  house,  "vrhich  we  went  over, 
is  a  very  pattern  of  cleanliness  and  comfort. 

The  route  from  Guillestre  into  Italy  lies  up  the 
valley  of  the  Guil,  througii  one  of  the  wildest  and 
deepest  gorges,  or  rather  chasms,  to  be  found  in  Europe. 
Brockedon  says  it  is  "■  one  of  the  finest  in  the  Alps." 
M.  Bost  compares  it  to  the  Moutier-Grand-Yal,  in  the 
canton  of  Berne,  but  says  it  is  much  wilder.  He  even 
calls  it  frightful,  which  it  is  not,  except  in  rainy  weather, 
when  the  rocks  occasionally  fall  from  overhead.  At  such 
times  people  avoid  travelling  through  the  gorge.  M. 
Bost  also  likens  it  to  the  Yia  Mala,  though  here  the 
road,  at  the  narrowest  and  most  precipitous  parts,  runs 
in  the  hottom  of  the  gorge,  in  a  ledge  cut  in  the  rock, 
there  being  room  only  for  the  river  and  the  road.  It 
is  only  of  late  years  that  the  roa<i  has  been  completed, 
and  it  is  often  partly  washed  away  in  winter,  or  covered 
with  rock  and  stones  brought  down  by  the  torrent. 
AYhen  Neff  travelled  the  gorge,  it  was  passable  only  on 
foot,  or  on  muleback.  Yet  light-footed  armies  have 
passed  into  Italy  by  this  route.  Lesdiguieres  clam- 
bered over  the  mountains  and  along  the  Guil  to  reach 
Chateau  Queyras,  which  he  assaulted  and  took.  Louis 
XIII.  once  accompanied  a  French  army  about  a  league 
up  the  gorge,  but  he  turned  back,  afraid  to  go  farther ; 
and  the  hamlet  at  which  his  progress  was  arrested  is 
still  called  Maison  du  Roi.  About  three  leagues  higher 
up,  after  crossing  the  Guil  from  bank  to  bank  several 
times,  in  order  to  make  use  of  such  ledges  of  the  rock 
as  are  suitable  for  the  road,  the  gorge  opens  into  the 
Combe  du  Queyras,  and  very  shortly  the  picturesque- 


CHATEAU  QUEYRAS.  371 

looking  Castle  of  (Jueyras  comes  in  siglit,  occupying 
the  summit  of  a  lofty  conical  rock  in  tlie  middle  of  the 
valley. 

As  we  approached  Chateau  Queyras  the  ruins  of  a 
building  were  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Milsom  in  the  bottom 
of  the  yalley,  close  by  the  river-side.  *•'  That/'  said  he, 
"  was  once  the  Protestant  temple  of  the  place.  It  was 
burnt  to  the  ground  at  the  Revocation.  You  see  that 
old  elm-tree  growing  near  it.  That  tree  was  at  the 
same  time  burnt  to  a  black  stump.  It  became  a  sajang 
in  the  valley  that  Protestantism  was  as  dead  as  that 
stump,  and  that  it  would  only  reappear  when  that  dead 
stump  came  to  life  !  And,  strange  to  say,  since  Felix 
Neff  has  been  here,  the  stump  lias  come  to  life — you  see 
how  green  it  is — and  again  Protestantism  is  like  the  elm- 
tree,  sending  out  its  vigorous  offshoots  in  the  valley." 

Chateau  Queyras  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  valley  of 

the  Guil,  which  is  joined  near  this  point  by  two  other 

valleys,  the  Combe  of  Arvieux  joining  it  on  the  right 

bank,  and  that  of  San  Yeran  on  the  left.     The  heads  of 

the   streams  which  traverse  these   valleys  have  their 

origin  in  the  snowy  range  of  the  Cottian  Alps,  which 

form  the  boundary  between  France  and  Itah^     As  in 

the  case  of  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Yaudois  at 

Dormilhouse,  they  are  here  also  found  at  the  farthest 

limit  of  vegetation,  penetrating  almost  to  the  edge  of 

the.  glacier,  where  they  were  least  likely  to  be  molested. 

The   inhabitants  of    Arvieux    were    formerly   almost 

entirely  Protestant,  and  had  a  temple  there,  which  was 

pulled  down  at  the  Kevocation.     From  that  time  down 

to   the   Pevolution   they   worshipped    only   in  secret, 

occasionally  ministered  to  by  Yaudois  pastors,  wbo  made 

precarious  visits  to  them  from  the  Italian  valleys  at  the 

risk  of  their  lives. 

25 


372       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

A.boYe  Arvieux  is  the  hamlet  of  La  Chalp,  containing 
a  considerable  number  of  Protestants,  and  where  Xeff 
had  his  home — a  small,  low  cottage  undistinguishable 
from  the  others  save  by  its  whitewashed  front.  Its 
situation  is  cheerful,  facing  the  south,  and  commanding 
a  pleasant  mountain  prospect,  contrasting  strongly  with 
the  barren  outlook  and  dismal  hovels  of  Dormilhouse. 
But  Ncff  never  could  regard  the  place  as  his  home. 
^' The  inhabitants,''  he  observed  in  his  journal,  ''have 
more  traffic,  and  the  mildness  of  the  climate  appears 
somehow  or  other  not  favourable  to  the  growth  of  piety. 
They  are  zealous  Protestants,  and  show  me  a  thousand 
attentions,  but  they  are  at  present  absolutely  im- 
penetrable." The  members  of  the  congregation  at 
Arvieux,  indeed,  complained  of  his  spending  so  little  of 
his  time  among  them  ;  but  the  comfort  of  his  cottage  at 
La  Chalp,  and  the  comparative  mildness  of  the  climate 
of  Arvieux,  were  insufficient  to  attract  him  from  the 
barren  crags  but  warm  hearts  of  Dormilhouse. 

The  village  of  San  Yeran,  which  lies  up  among  the 
mountains  some  twelve  miles  to  the  east  of  Arvieux,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Yal  Queyras,  was  another 
of  the  refuges  of  the  ancient  Yaudois.  It  is  at  the  foot 
of  the  snoTvy  ridge  which  divides  France  from  Italy. 
Dr.  Gilly  says,  "  There  is  nothing  fit  for  mortal  to  take 
refuge  in  between  San  Yeran  and  the  eternal  snows 
which  mantle  the  pinnacles  of  Monte  Yiso."  The  village 
is  6,692  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  there 
is  a  provincial  saying  that  San  Yeran  is  the  highest 
spot  in  Europe  where  bread  is  eaten.  Felix  ^qW  said, 
''  It  is  the  highest,  and  consequently  the  most  pious, 
in  the  valley  of  Qaeyras."  Dr.  Gilly  was  the  second 
Englishman  who  had  ever  found  his  way  to  the  place, 
and  he  was  accompanied  on  the  occasion  by  Mrs.  Gilly. 


NEFF'S  CHARGE.  373 

"  The  siglit  of  a  female,"  lie  saj^s,  ^'  dressed  entirely 
in  linen,  was  a  phenomenon  so  new  to  those  simple 
peasants,  whose  garments  are  never  anything  but 
woollen,  that  Pizarro  and  his  mail-clad  companions 
were  not  greater  objects  of  curiosity  to  the  Peruvians 
than  we  were  to  these  mountaineers." 

Not  far  distant  from  San  Yeran  are  the  mountain 
hamlets  of  Pierre  Grrosse  and  Fon-gillarde,  also 
ancient  retreats  of  the  persecuted  Yaudois,  and  now  for 
the  most  part  inhabited  by  Protestants.  The  remote- 
ness and  comparative  inaccessibility  of  these  mountain 
hamlets  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  1786, 
when  the  Protestants  of  France  were  for  the  first 
time  since  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  JSTantes 
permitted  to  worship  in  public  without  molestation, 
four  years  elapsed  before  the  intelligence  reached  San 
Yeran. 

We  have  now  reached  almost  the  extreme  limits  of 
France ;  Italy  lying  on  the  other  side  of  the  snowy 
peaks  which  shut  in  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Alps.  In 
Neff's  time  the  jDarish  of  which  he  had  charge  ex- 
tended from  San  A^eran,  on  the  frontier,  to  Champsaur, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Drac,  a  distance  of  nearly  eighty 
miles.  His  charge  consisted  of  the  scattered  popula- 
tion of  many  mountain  hamlets,  to  visit  wliich  in  suc- 
cession involved  his  travelling  a  total  distance  of  not 
less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles.  It  was,  of 
course,  impossible  that  any  single  man,  no  matter  how 
inspired  by  zeal  and  devotion,  could  do  justice  to  a 
charge  so  extensive.  The  difficulties  of  passing  through 
a  country  so  wild  and  rugged  were  also  very  great, 
especially  in  winter.  Xeif  records  that  on  one  occasion 
he  took  six  hours  to  make  the  journey,  in  the  midst  of 
a  snow-storm  which  completelv  hid  the  footpath,  from 


374       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VACDOIS. 

his  cottage  at  La  Chalp  to  San  Yeran,  a  distance  of 
only  twelve  miles. 

The  pastors  who  succeeded  Neff  had  the  same  diffi- 
culties to  encounter,  and  there  were  few  to  be  found 
who  could  brave  them.  The  want  of  proper  domestic 
accommodation  for  the  pastors  was  also  felt  to  be  a 
great  hindrance.  Accordingly,  one  of  the  first  things 
to  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Freemantle  directed  his  atten- 
tion, when  he  entered  upon  his  noble  work  of  supplying 
the  spiritual  destitution  of  the  French  Taudois,  was  to 
take  steps  not  only  to  supply  the  poor  people  with  more 
commodious  temples,  but  also  to  provide  dwelling- 
houses  for  the  pastors.  And  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  helped  by  friends  in  England,  he  has  been 
enabled  really  to  accomplish  a  very  great  deal.  The 
extensive  parish  of  Neff  is  now  divided  into  five,  sub- 
parishes — that  of  Fressiniercs,  which  includes  Palons, 
Violins,  and  Dormilhouse,  j^rovided  with  three  tem^^les, 
a  parsonage,  and  schools ;  Arvieux,  with  the  hamlets 
of  Brunissard  (where  worship  was  formerly  conducted 
in  a  stable)  and  La,  Chalp,  provided  with  two  temples, 
a  parsonage,  and  schools  ;  San  Ye  ran,  with  Fongillardc 
and  Pierre  Grosse,  provided  with  three  temples,  a 
parsonage,  and  a  school ;  St.  Laurent  du  Cros  and 
Champsaur,  in  the  valley  of  the  Drac,  provided  with  a 
temple,  school,  &c.,  principally  through  the  liberality 
of  Lord  Monson  ;  and  Guillestre  and  Yars,  jorovided 
with  two  temples,  a  parsonage,  and  a  girls'  school.  A 
temple,  with  a  residence  for  a  pastor,  has  also  of  late 
years  been  provided  at  Briancon,  with  a  meeting-place 
also  at  the  village  of  Yilleneuve. 

Such  are  the  agencies  now  at  work  in  the  district  of 
the  High  Alps,  helped  on  by  a  few  zealous  workers 
in   England   and   abroad.     While   the  object   of  the 


ABRIES.  375 

pastors,  ill  the  words  of  Mr.  Freemantlc,  is  ^^  not  to 
regard  tliemselves  as  missionaries  to  proselytize  Koman 
Catliolics,  but  as  ministers  residing  among  their  own 
people,  whose  faith,  and  love,  and  holiness  they  have 
to  promote,"  they  also  endeavour  to  institute  measures 
with  the  object  of  improving  the  social  and  domestic 
condition  of  the  Yaudois.  Thus,  in  one  district — that 
of  St.  Laurent  du  Cros — a  hanque  de  prevoyance,  or 
savings-bank,  has  been  established ;  and  though  it  was 
at  first  regarded  with  suspicion,  it  has  gradually  made 
its  way  and  proved  of  great  value,  being  made  use  of 
by  the  indigent  Roman  Catholics  as  well  as  Protestant 
families  of  the  district.  Such  eflforts  and  such  agencies 
as  these  cannot  fail  to  be  followed  by  blessings,  and  to 
be  greatly  instrumental  for  good. 

Our  last  night  in  France  was  spent  in  the  miserable 
little  town  of  Abries,  situated  immediately  at  the  foot 
of  the  Alpine  ridge  which  separates  France  from  Italy. 
On  reaching  the  principal  hotel,  or  rather  auberge,  we 
found  every  bed  taken ;  but  a  peep  into  the  dark  and 
dirty  kitchen,  which  forms  the  entrance-hall  of  the 
place,  made  us  almost  glad  that  there  was  no  room  for 
us  in  that  inn.  We  turned  out  into  the  wet  streets  to 
find  a  better ;  but  though  we  succeeded  in  finding  beds 
in  a  poor  house  in  a  back  lane,  little  can  be  said  in  their 
praise.  We  were,  however,  supplied  with  a  tolerable 
dinner,  and  contrived  to  pass  the  night  in  rest,  and  to 
start  refreshed  earlj^  on  the  following  morning  on  our 
way  to  the  Yaudois  valleys  of  Piedmont. 


VALLEY    OF    LUSERNE. 


>#• '#^  <BcmcTiUt. 
^^  ^^-   Crosenn^ 
Cohttela  Croixs 


Gicmsarano    <^  - 


"^^ 


A-rmallier^ 


I. 


s:::\V 


<"'^      Giraudirie 


S^E  E  N.E   ^frci 


^-'/'V 


^'  MiFalava.f 


ilPis 


-     /Cci'^ 


CHxVPTEE  YI. 


THE    VALLEY    OF    THE    PELICE LA    TOL' R- 

THE    PRA    DU    TOUR. 


-AXGROGXA- 


rpHE  village  of  Abries  is  situated  close  to  the  Alpine 
-^  ridge,  the  summit  of  which  marks  the  boundary 
between  France  and  Italy.  On  the  other  side  lie  the 
valleys  of  Piedmont,  in  which  the  French  Yaudois  were 
accustomed  to  take  refuge  when  persecution  ravaged 
their  own  valleys,  passing  by  the  mountain-road  we 
were  now  about  to  travel,  as  far  as  La  Tour,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Police. 

Although  there  are  occasional  villages  along  the 
route,  there  is  no  good  resting-place  for  travellers  short 
of  La  Tour,  some  twenty- six  miles  distant  from  Abries; 
and  as  it  was  necessary  that  Ave  should  walk  the 
distance,  the  greater  part  of  the  road  being  merely  a 
track,  scarcely  practicable  for  mules,  we  were  up  be- 
times in  the  morning,  and  on  our  way.     The  sun  had 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  PELLCE.  377 

scarcely  risen  above  tlie  horizon.  The  mist  was  still 
hanging  along  the  mountain -sides,  and  the  stillness  of 
the  scene  was  only  broken  by  the  murmur  of  the  Guil 
running  in  its  rocky  bed  below.  Passing  through  the 
hamlet  of  Monta,  where  the  French  douane  has  its  last 
frontier  station,  we  began  the  ascent ;  and  soon,  as  the 
sun  rose  and  the  mists  cleared  away,  we  saw  the  profile 
of  the  mountain  up  which  we  were  climbing  cast  boldly 
upon  the  range  behind  us  on  the  further  side  of  the 
valley.  A  little  beyond  the  ravine  of  the  Combe  de  la 
Croix,  along  the  summit  of  which  the  road  winds,  we 
reached  the  last  house  within  the  French  frontier — a 
hospice,  not  very  inviting  in  aj)pearance,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  travellers.  A  little  further  is  the  Col,  and 
passing  a  stone  block  carved  with  the  fleur-de-lis  and 
cross  of  Savoy,  we  crossed  the  frontier  of  France  and 
entered  Italy. 

On  turning  a  shoulder  of  the  mountain,  we  looked 
down  upon  the  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Felice,  a  grand 
and  savage  scene.  The  majestic,  snow-capped  Monte 
Yiso  towers  up  on  the  right,  at  the  head  of  the  valle}", 
amidst  an  assemblage,  of  other  great  mountain  masses. 
From  its  foot  seems  to  steal  the  river  Felice,  now  a 
quiet  rivulet,  though  in  winter  a  raging  torrent. 
Fight  in  front,  lower  down  the  valley,  is  the  rocky 
defile  of  Mirabouc,  a  singularly  savage  gorge,  seemingly 
rent  asunder  by  some  tremendous  convulsion  of  nature  ; 
beyond  and  over  which  extends  the  valley  of  the  Felice, 
expanding  into  that  of  the  Fo,  and  in  the  remote 
distance  the  plains  of  Fiedmont ;  while  immediately 
beneath  our  feet,  as  it  were,  but  far  below,  lies  a  con- 
siderable breadth  of  green  pasture,  the  Bergerie  of  Fra, 
enclosed  on  all  sides  by  the  mountains  over  which  we 
look. 


37.8       THE' COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

The  descent  from  tlie  Col  down  into  the  Pra  is  very 
difficult,  in  some  places  almost  precipitous — far  more 
abrupt  than  on  the  French  side,  where  the  incline  up 
to  the  summit  is  comparatively  easy. 

The  zigzag  descends  from  one  rock  to  another,  along 
the  face  of  a  shelving  slope,  by  a  succession  of  notches 
(from  which  the  footpath  is  not  inappropriately  termed 
ha  Coche)  affording  a  very  insecure  footing  for  the 
few  mules  which  occasionally  cross  the  pass.  Dr. 
Gilly  crossed  here  from  La  Tour  with  Mrs.  Gilly  in 
1829,  when  about  to  visit  the  French  valleys ;  but  he 
found  the  path  so  difficult  and  dangerous,  that  the  lady 
had  to  walk  nearly  the  whole  way. 

As  we  descended  the  mountain  almost  by  a  succession 
of  leaps,  we  overtook  M.  Gariod,  deputy  judge  of  Gap, 
engaged  in  botanizing  among  the  rocks ;  and  he  in- 
formed us  that  among  the  rarer  specimens  he  had  col- 
Lcted  in  the  course  of  his  journey  on  the  summit  were 
the  Poli/goniim  a/pimmi  and  Silcne  rallesia,  above  Monta; 
the  LcucantJiemuni  a/jnnum,  near  the  Hospice ;  the 
Linaria  alpina  and  Cirsium  spinosissimus  on  the  Col; 
while  the  Lloijdia  scrotiua,  Arahis  alpina,  PJiytciinm 
Jiemixphcricum,  and  Rhododoidnim  ferruginciun,  were 
found  all  over  the  face  of  the  rocky  descent  to  the  Pra. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Coche  we  arrived  at  the  first  house 
in  Italy,  the  little  auberge  of  the  Pra,  a  great  resort  of 
sportsmen; who  come  to  hunt  the  chamois  in  the  adjoin- 
ing mountains  during  the  saason.  Here  is  also  the 
usual  customs  station,  with  a  fe  v  officers  of  the  Italian 
douane.  to  watch  the  passage  of  merchandise  across 
the  frontier. 

The  road  from  hence  to  la  Tour  is  along  the  river 
Police,  which  is  kept  in  sight  nearly  the  whole  way. 
A  little  below  the  Pra,  where  it  enters  the  defile  of 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  FELICE.  379 

Mirabouc,  the  patli  merely  follows  what  is  tlie  bed  of 
the  torrent  in  winter.  The  descent  is  down  ledercs  and 
notches,  from  rock  to  rock,  with  rugged  precipices 
overhanging  the  ravine  for  nearly  a  mile.  At  its 
narrowest  part  stand  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  fort  of 
Mirabouc,  built  against  the  steej)  escarpments  of  the 
mountain,  which,  in  ancient  times,  completely  com- 
manded and  closed  the  defile  against  the  passage  of  an 
enemy  from  that  quarter.  And  difficult  though  the 
Col  de  la  Croix  is  for  the  passage  of  an  army,  it  has  on 
more  than  one  occasion  been  passed  by  French  detach- 
ments in  their  invasion  of  Italy. 

It  is  not  until  we  reach  Bobi,  or  Bobbio,  several  miles 
lower  down  the  Police,  that  we  at  last  feel  we  are  in 
Italy.  Here  the  valley  opens  out,  the  scenery  is  soft 
and  inviting,  the  fields  are  well  tilled,  the  vegetation  is 
rich,  and  the  clusters  of  chestnut-trees  in  magnificent 
foliage.  AYe  now  begin  to  see  the  striking  difference 
between  the  French  and  the  Italian  valleys.  The  former 
are  precipitous  and  sterile,  constant  falls  of  slaty  rock 
blocking  up  the  defiles  ;  while  here  the  mountains  lay 
aside  their  savage  aspects,  and  are  softened  down  into 
picturesquely  wooded  hills,  green  pastures,  and  fertile 
fields  stretching  along  the  river-sides,  yielding  a  rich 
territory  for  the  j)lough. 

Yet,  beautiful  and  peaceful  though  this  valley  of  the 
Felice  now  aj)pears,  there  is  scarcely  a  spot  in  it  but 
has  been  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  martyrs  to  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  religion.  In  the  rugged  defile  of 
the  Mirabouc,  which  we  have  just  passed,  is  the  site  of 
a  battle  fought  between  the  Piedmontese  troops  and  the 
Yaudois  peasants,  at  a  place  called  the  Pian-del-Mort, 
where  the  persecuted,  turning  upon  the  persecutors, 
drove  them  back,  and  made  good  their  retreat  to  their 


38o       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

mountain  fastnesses.  Bobi  itself  was  tlie  scene  of  man}^ 
deadly  struggles,  A  little  above  the  village,  on  a  rocky- 
plateau,  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  fort,  near  the 
hamlet  of  Sibaud,  where  the  Yaudois  performed  one  of 
their  bravest  exploits  under  Henri  Arnaud,  after  their 
*'  Glorious  Ileturn  "  from  exile, — near  which,  on  a 
stone  still  pointed  out,  they  swore  fidelity  to  each  other, 
and  that  they  would  die  to  the  last  man  rather  than 
abandon  their  country  and  their  religion. 

Near  Bobi  is  still  to  be  seen  a  remarkable  illustration 
of  English  interest  long  ago  felt  in  the  people  of  these 
vallej's.  This  is  the  long  embankment  or  breakwater, 
built  by  a  grant  from  Oliver  Cromwell,  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  village  against  the  inundations  of  the 
Pelice,  by  one  of  which  it  was  nearly  destroyed  in  the 
time  of  the  Protectorate.  It  seems  strange  indeed  that 
England  should  then  have  stretched  out  its  hand  so  far, 
to  help  a  people  so  poor  and  uninfluential  as  the 
Yaudois ;  but  their  sufferings  had  excited  the  sj^m- 
pathies  of  all  Europe,  and  of  Protestant  England  in 
particular,  which  not  only  sent  them  sjmipathy,  but 
substantial  succour.  Cromwell  also,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Cardinal  Mazarin,  compelled  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  to  suspend  for  a  time  the  persecution  of  his 
subjects, — though  shortly  after  the  Protector's  death  it 
waxed  hotter  than  ever. 

All  down  the  valley  of  the  Pelice,  we  come  iipon 
village  after  village — La  Piante,  Yillar,  and  Cabriol — 
which  have  been  the  scenes  sometimes  of  heroic  combats, 
and  sometimes  of  treacherous  massacres.  Yet  all  the 
cruelty  of  Grand  Dukes  and  Popes  during  centuries  did 
not  avail  in  turning  the  people  of  the  valley  from  their 
faith.  For  they  continue  to  worship  after  the  same 
primitive  forms  as  they  did  a  thousand  years  ago ;  and 


LA    TOUR.  381 

in  the  principal  villages  and  hamlets,  though  Homanisni 
has  long  been  supported  by  the  power  of  the  State  and 
the  patronage  of  the  Church,  the  Protestant  Yaudois 
continue  to  constitute  the  majority  of  the  population. 

Rising  up  on  the  left  of  the  road,  between  Villar  and 
La  Tour,  are  seen  the  bold  and  almost  perpendicular 
rocks  of  Castelluzzo,  terminating  in  the  tower-like 
summit  which  has  given  to  them  their  name.  On  the 
face  of  these  rocks  is  one  of  the  caverns  in  which  the 
Vaudois  were  accustomed  to  hide  their  women  and 
children  when  they  themselves  were  forced  to  take  the 
field.  When  Dr.  Gilly  first  endeavoured  to  discover 
this  famous  cavern  in  1829,  he  could  not  find  any  one 
who  could  guide  him  to  it.  Tradition  said  it  was  half 
way  down  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  rock,  and  it  was 
known  to  be  very  difficult  to  reach  ;  but  the  doctor 
could  not  find  any  traces  of  it.  Determined,  however, 
not  to  be  baffled,  he  made  a  second  attempt  a  month 
later,  and  succeeded.  He  had  to  descend  some  fifty  feet 
from  the  top  of  the  cliff*  by  a  rope  ladder,  until  a  plat- 
form of  rock  was  reached,  from  which  the  cavern  was 
entered.  It  was  found  to  consist  of  an  irregular,  rugged, 
sloping  gallery  in  the  face  of  the  rock,  of  considerable 
extent,  roofed  in  by  a  projecting  crag.  It  is  quite 
open  to  the  south,  but  on  all  other  sides  it  is  secure  ; 
and  it  can  only  be  entered  from  above.  Such  were 
the  places  to  which  the  people  of  the  valley's  were 
driven  for  shelter  in  the  dark  days  so  happily  passed 
away. 

One  of  the  best  indications  of  the  improved  regime 
that  now  prevails,  shortly  presented  itself  in  the  hand- 
some Yaudois  church,  situated  at  the  western  entrance 
of  the  town  of  La  Tour,  near  to  which  is  the  coUese  for 
the  education  of  Yaudois  pastors,  together  -wath  resi- 


382        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

dences  for  tlie  clergy  and  professors.  The  founding  of 
this  establishment,  as  well  as  of  the  hospital  for  the 
poor  and  infirm  Yaudois,  is  in  a  great  measure  due  to 
the  energetic  zeal  of  the  Dr.  Gilly  so  often  quoted 
above,  whose  writings  on  behalf  of  the  faithful  but 
destitute  Protestants  of  the  Piedmontese  valleys,  about 
forty  3'ears  since,  awakened  an  interest  in  their  behalf 
in  England,  as  well  as  in  foreign  countries,  which  has 
not  yet  subsided. 

More  enthusiastic,  if  possible,  even  than  Dr.  Gilly, 
was  the  late  General  Beckwith,  who  followed  up,  with 
extraordinary  energy,  the  work  which  the  other  had  so 
well  begun.  The  general  was  an  old  Peninsular  veteran, 
who  had  followed  the  late  Duke  of  Wellington  through 
most  of  his  campaigns,  and  lost  a  leg  while  serving 
under  him  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  Hence  the  desig- 
nation of  him  by  a  Poman  Catholic  bishop  in  an  article 
published  by  him  in  one  of  the  Italian  journals,  as  ''  the 
adventurer  with  the  wooden  leg." 

The  general's  attention  was  first  attracted  to  the 
subject  of  the  Yaudois  in  the  following  curiously  acci- 
dental way.  Being  a  regular  visitor  at  Apsley  House, 
he  called  on  the  Duke  one  morning,  and,  finding  him 
engaged,  he  strolled  into  the  library  to  spend  an  idle 
half-hour  among  the  books.  The  first  he  took  up  was 
Dr.  Gilly's  '' JSTarrative,"  and  what  he  read  excited  so 
lively  an  interest  in  his  mind  that  he  went  direct  to  his 
bookseller  and  ordered  all  the  publications  relative  to 
the  Yaudois  Church  that  could  be  procured. 

The  general's  zeal  being  thus  fired,  he  set  out  shortly 
after  on  a  visit  to  the  Piedmontese  valleys.  He  re- 
turned to  them  again  and  again,  and  at  length  settled 
at  La  Tour,  where  he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life 
and  a  large  portion  of  his  fortune  to  the  service  of  the 


LA   TOUR.  383 

Yaudois  Cliurcli  and  people.  He  organized  a  move- 
ment for  the  erection  of  schools,  of  which  not  fewer  than 
one 'hundred  and  twenty  were  provided  mainly  through 
his  instrumentality  in  different  parts  of  the  valleys, 
besides  restoring  and  enlarging  the  colUge  at  La  Tour, 
erecting  the  present  commodious  dwellings  for  the  pro- 
fessors, providing  a  superior  school  for  the  education 
of  pastors'  daughters,  and  contributing  towards  the 
erection  of  churches  wherever  churches  were  needed. 

The  general  was  so  zealous  a  missionar}^,  so  eager 
for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  that  some  of  his 
friends  asked  him  why  he. did  not  preach  to  the  people. 
*'  !No,"  said  he  ;  "  men  have  their  special  gifts,  and  mine 
is  a  hricli- and' mortar  g[fty  The  general  was  satisfied 
to  go  on  as  he  had  begun,  helping  to  build  schools, 
colleges,  and  churches  for  the  Yaudois,  wherever  most 
needed.  His  croT\Tiing  work  was  the  erection  of  the 
grand  block  of  buildings  on  the  Yiale  del  Ee  at  Turin, 
which  not  only  includes  a  handsome  and  commodious 
Yaudois  church,  but  an  English  church,  and  a  Yaudois 
hospital  and  schools,  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  fourteen 
thousand  pounds,  principally  at  the  cost  of  the  general 
himself,  generously  aided  by  Mr.  Brewin  and  other 
English  contributors. 

Nor  were  the  people  ungrateful  to  their  benefactor. 
"  Let  the  name  of  General  Beckwith  be  blessed  by  all 
who  pass  this  way,"  says  an  inscription  placed  upon 
one  of  the  many  schools  opened  through  his  efforts  and 
generosity ;  and  the  whole  country  responds  to  the 
sentiment. 

To  return  to  La  Tour.  The  style  of  the  buildings  at 
its  western  end — the  church,  college,  residences,  and 
adjoining  cottages,  with  their  pretty  gardens  in  front, 
designed,  as  they  have  been,  by  English  architects — 


384       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

give  one  tlie  idea  of  tlie  best  part  of  an  Englisli  town. 
But  this  disappears  as  you  enter  tlie  town  itself,  and 
proceed  through  the  principal  street,  which  is  long, 
narrow,  and  thoroughly  Italian.  The  situation  of  the 
town  is  exceedingly  fine,  at  the  foot  of  the  Yandalin 
Mountain,  near  the  confluence  of  the  river  Angrogna 
with  the  Police.  The  surrounding  scenery  is  charming ; 
and  from  the  high  grounds,  north  and  south  of  the  town, 
extensive  views  may  be  had  in  all  directions — especially 
up  the  yalley  of  the  Police,  and  eastward  over  the  plains 
of  Piedmont — the  whole  coimtry  being,  as  it  were,  em- 
broidered with  vineyards,  corn-fields,  and  meadows,  here 
and  there  shaded  with  groves  and  thickets,  spread  over 
a  surface  varied  by  hills,  and  knolls,  and  undulating 
slopes. 

The  size,  importance,  industry,  and  central  situation 
of  La  Tour  have  always  caused  it  to  be  regarded  as  the 
capital  of  the  valleys.  One-half  of  the  Yaudois  popu- 
lation occupies  the  valley  of  the  Police  and  the  lateral 
valley  of  Angrogna ;  the  remainder,  more  -widely  scat- 
tered, occupying  the  valleys  of  Perouse  and  Pragela, 
and  the  lateral  valley  of  St.  Martin — the  entire  number 
of  the  Protestant  population  in  the  several  valleys 
amounting  to  about  twenty  thousand. 

Although,  as  we  have  already  said,  there  is  scarcely 
a  hamlet  in  the  valleys  but  has  been  made  famous  by 
the  resistance  of  its  inhabitants  in  past  times  to  the 
combined  tyranny  of  the  Popes  of  Pome  and  the  Dukes 
of  Savoy,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  events  of  all  have 
occurred  in  the  neighbourhood  of  La  Tour,  but  more 
especially  in  the  valley  of  Angrogna,  at  whose  entrance 
it  stands. 

The  w^onder  is,  that  a  scattered  community  of  half- 
armed  peasantry,  without  resources,  without  magazines, 


THE  VALLEY  OF  ANGROGNA.  385 

without  fortresses,  should  have  been  able  for  any  length, 
of  time  to  resist  large  bodies  of  regular  troops — Italian, 
French,  Spanish,  and  even  Irish  ! — led  by  the  most 
experienced  commanders  of  the  day,  and  abundantly 
supplied  with  arms,  cannon,  ammunition,  and  stores  of 
all  kinds.  All  that  the  people  had  on  their  side — and 
it  compensated  for  much — was  a  good  cause,  great 
bravery,  and  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  country  in 
which,  and  for  which,  they  fought. 

Though  the  Yaudois  had  no  walled  towns,  their 
district  was  a  natural  fortress,  every  foot  of  which  was 
known  to  them — every  pass,  every  defile,  every  barri- 
cade, and  every  defensible  position.  Resistance  in  the 
open  country,  they  knew,  would  be  fatal  to  them. 
Accordingly,  whenever  assailed  by  their  persecutors, 
they  fled  to  their  mountain  strongholds,  and  there 
waited  the  attack  of  the  enemy. 

One  of  the  strongest  of  such  places — the  Thermopyloe 
of  the  Yaudois — was  the  valley  of  Angrogna,  up  which 
the  inhabitants  of  La  Tour  were  accustomed  to  retreat 
on  any  sudden  invasion  by  the  army  of  Savoy.  The 
valley  is  one  of  exquisite  beauty,  presenting  a  combi- 
nation of  mingled  picturesqueness  and  sublimity,  the 
like  of  which  is  rarely  to  be  seen.  It  is  hemmed  in  by 
mountains,  in  some  places  rounded  and  majestic,  in 
others  jagged  and  abrupt.  The  sides  of  the  valley  are 
in  many  places  finely  wooded,  while  in  others  well- 
tilled  fields,  pastures,  and  vineyards  slope  down  to  the 
river-side.  Orchards  are  succeeded  by  pine-woods,  and 
these  again  by  farms  and  gardens.  Sometimes  a  little 
cascade  leaps  from  a  rock  on  its  way  to  the  valley 
below ;  and  little  is  heard  around,  save  the  rippling  of 
water,  and  the  occasional  lowing  of  cattle  in  the  pastures, 
mingled  with  the  music  of  their  bells. 


386       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS 

Sliortly  after  entering  tlie  valley,  we  passed  the  scene 
of  several  terrible  struggles  between  the  Yaudois  and 
their  persecutors.  One  of  the  most  famous  spots  is  the 
plateau  of  Hochemalan,  where  the  hpights  of  St.  John 
abut  upon  the  mountains  of  Angrogna.  It  was  shortly 
after  the  fulmination  of  a  bull  of  extermination  against 
the  Yaudois  by  Pope  Innocent  YIII.,  in  1486,  that  an 
army  of  eighteen  thousand  regular  French  and  Pied- 
montese  troops,  accompanied  by  a  horde  of  brigands  to 
whom  the  remission  of  sins  was  promised  on  condition 
of  their  helping  to  slay  the  heretics,  encircled  the 
valleys  and  proceeded  to  assail  the  A^audois  in  their 
fastnesses.  The  Papal  legate,  Albert  Catanee,  Arch- 
deacon of  Cremona,  had  his  head-quarters  at  Pignerol, 
from  whence  he  superintended  the  execution  of  the 
Pope's  orders.  First,  he  sent  preaching  monks  up  the 
valleys  to  attempt  the  conversion  of  the  Yaudois  before 
attacking  them  with  arms.  But  the  peasantry  refused 
to  be  converted,  and  fled  to  their  strongholds  in  the 
mountains. 

Then  Catanee  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  his  army, 
advancing  upon  Angrogna.  lie  extended  his  lines  so 
as  to  enclose  the  entire  bod}^  of  heretics,  with  the  object 
of  cutting  them  off  to  a  man.  The  Yaudois,  however, 
defended  themselves  resolutely,  though  armed  only  with 
pikes,  swords,  and  bows  and  arrows,  and  everywhere 
beat  back  the  assailants.  The  severest  struggle  occurred 
at  Hochemalan,  which  the  crusaders  attacked  with  great 
courage.  But  the  Yaudois  had  the  advantage  of  the 
higher  ground,  and,  encouraged  by  the  cries  and  prayers 
of  the  women,  children,  and  old  men  whom  they  were 
defending,  they  impetuously  rushed  forward  and  drove 
the  Papal  troops  down-hill  in  disorder,  pursuing  them 
into  the  very  plain. 


BATTLE  OF  ROCHEMALAN.  387 

The  next  clay  tlie  Papaliiii  renewed  the  attack, 
ascending  by  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  instead  of  by 
the  plateau  on  which  they  had  been  defeated.  But  one 
of  those  dense  mists,  so  common  in  the  Alps,  having 
settled  down  upon  the  valley,  the  troops  became  con- 
fused, broken  up,  and  entangled  in  difficult  paths  ;  and 
in  this  state,  marching  aj^prehensively,  they  were  fallen 
upon  by  the  Yaudois  and  again  completely  defeated. 
Many  of  the  soldiers  slid  over  the  rocks  and  were 
drowned  in  the  torrent, — the  chasm  into  which  the 
captain  of  the  detachment  (Saquet  de  Planghere)  fell, 
being  still  known  as  Toiimpi  de  Saquet,  or  Saquet's 
Hole. 

The  resistance  of  the  mountaineers  at  other  points,  in 
the  valleys  of  Pragela  and  St.  Martin,  having  been 
almost  equally  successfid,  Catanee  withdrew  the  Papal 
army  in  disgust,  and  marched  it  back  into  France,  to 
wreak  his  vengeance  on  the  defenceless  Vaudois  of  the 
Val  Louise,  in  the  manner  described  in  a  preceding 
chapter. 

Less  than  a  century  later,  a  like  attempt  was  made 
to  force  the  entrance  to  the  valley  of  Angrogna,  by  an 
arm}^  of  Italians  and,  Sj)aniards,  under  the  command  of 
the  Count  de  la  Trinite.  A  proclamation  had  been 
published,  and  put  up  in  the  villages  of  Angrogna, 
to  the  effect  that  all  would  be  destroyed  by  fire  and 
sword  who  did  not  forthwith  return  to  the  Church  of 
Pome.  And  as  the  peasantry  did  not  return,  on  the 
2nd  N^ovember,  1560,  the  Count  advanced  at  the  head 
of  his  army  to  extirpate  the  heretics.  The  Yaudois 
were  provided  with  the  rudest  sort  of  weapons ;  many 
of  them  had  only  slings  and  cross-bows.  Put  they  felt 
strong  in  the  goodness  of  their  cause,  and  prepared  to 
defend  themselves  to  the  death. 

26 


388        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

As  the  Count's  army  advanced,  tlie  Yaudois  retired 
until  tliey  readied  tlie  liigh  ground  near  Rocliemalan, 
wliere  tliey  took  their  stand.  The  enemy  followed,  and 
halted  in  the  valley  beneath,  lighting  their  bivouac 
fires,  and  intending  to  pass  the  night  there.  Before 
darkness  fell,  however,  an  accidental  circumstance  led 
to  an  engagement.  A  Yaudois  boy,  who  had  got  hold 
of  a  drum,  began  beating  it  in  a  ravine  close  by.  The 
soldiers,  thinking  a  hostile  troop  had  arrived,  sprang  up 
in  disorder  and  seized  their  arms.  The  Yaudois,  on 
their  part,  seeing  the  movement,  and  imagining  that  an 
attack  was  about  to  be  made  on  them,  rushed  forward 
to  repel  it.  The  soldiers,  surprised  and  confused,  for 
the  most  part  threw  away  their  arms,  and  fled  down 
the  valley.  Irritated  by  this  disgraceful  retreat  of 
some  twelve  hundred  soldiers  before  two  hundred 
peasants,  the  Count  advanced  a  second  time,  and  was 
again  repulsed  by  the  little  band  of  heroes,  who  charged 
his  troops  with  loud  shouts  of  ''  Yiva  Jcsu  Christo ! " 
driving  the  invaders  in  confusion  down  the  valley. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  object  of  the  Savoy 
general,  in  making  this  attack,  was  to  force  the  valley, 
and  capture  the  strong  position  of  the  Pra  du  Tour, 
the  celebrated  stronghold  of  the  Yaudois,  from  whence 
we  shall  afterwards  find  them  again  driven  back, 
baffled  and  defeated. 

A  hundred  years  passed,  and  still  the  Yaudois 
remained  unconverted  and  unexterminated.  The 
Marquis  of  Pianesse  now  advanced  upon  Angrogna 
— always  with  the  same  object,  "ad  extirj^andos 
hereticos,''  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  Propaganda. 
On  this  occasion  not  only  Italian  and  Spanish  but 
Irish  troops  were  engaged  in  a  combined  effort  to 
exterminate  the  Yaudois.     The  Irish  were  known  as 


BATTLE  OF  AXGROGNA.  389 

*' the  assassins"  I  y  the  people  of  the  valleys,  because  of 
their  almost  exceptional  ferocity  ;  and  the  hatred  they 
excited  by  their  outrages  on  women  and  children  was 
so  great,  that  on  the  assault  and  capture  of  St.  Legont 
by  the  Vaudois  peasantry,  an  Irish  regiment  surprised 
in  barracks  was  completely  destroyed. 

A  combined  attack  was  made  on  Angrogna  on  the 
15th  of  June,  1655.  On  that  day  four  separate  bodies 
of  troops  advanced  iip  the  heights  from  different 
directions,  thereby  enclosing  the  little  Vaudois  army  of 
three  hundred  men  assembled  there,  and  led  by  the 
heroic  Javanel.  This  leader  first  threw  himself  upon 
the  head  of  the  column  which  advanced  from  Roch opiate, 
and  drove  it  downhill.  Then  he  drew  off  his  little 
body  towards  Rochemalan,  when  he  suddenly  found 
himself  opposed  by  the  two  bodies  which  had  come 
up  from  St.  John  and  La  Tour.  Retiring  before  them, 
he  next  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the  fourth 
detachment,  which  had  come  up  from  Pramol.  With 
the  quick  instinct  of  military  genius,  Javanel  threw 
himself  upon  it  before  the  beaten  Rocheplate  detach- 
ment were  able  to  rally  and  assail  him  in  flank ;  and 
he  succeeded  in  cutting  the  Pramol  force  in  two  and 
passing  through  it,  rushing  up  to  the  summit  of  the 
hill,  on  which  he  posted  himself.  And  there  he  stood 
at  bay. 

This  hill  is  precipitous  on  one  side,  but  of  compara- 
tively easy  ascent  on  the  side  up  which  the  little  band 
of  heroes  had  ascended.  At  the  foot  of  the  slope  the 
four  detachments,  three  thousand  against  three  hundred, 
drew  up  and  attacked  him ;  but  firing  from  a  distance, 
their  aim  was  not  very  deadl^^  For  five  hours  Javanel 
resisted  them  as  he  best  could,  and  then,  seeing  signs 
of  impatience  and  hesitation  in  the  enemy's  ranks,  he 


390       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

called  out  to  his  men,  "  Forward,  my  friends ! "  and 
thej^  rushed  down-liill  like  an  avalanche.  The  three 
thousand  men  recoiled,  broke,  and  fled  before  the  three 
hundred ;  and  Javanel  returned  yictorious  to  his 
entrenchments  before  Angrogna. 

Yet,  again,  some  eight  years  later,  in  1663,  was  this 
neighbourhood  the  scene  of  another  contest,  and  again 
was  Javanel  the  hero.  On  this  occasion,  the  Marquis 
de  Fleury  led  the  troops  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  whose 
object,  as  before,  was  to  advance  up  the  valley,  and 
assail  the  Yaudois  stronghold  of  Pra  du  Tour ;  and 
again  the  peasantry  resisted  them  successfully,  and 
drove  them  back  into  the  plains.  Javanel  then  went 
to  rejoin  a  party  of  the  men'w^hom  he  had  posted  at 
the  "  Gates  of  Angrogna''  to  defend  the  pass  up  the 
valley ;  and  again  he  fell  upon  the  enemy  engaged  in 
attempting  to  force  a  passage  there,  and  defeated  them 
with  heavy  loss. 

Such  are  among  the  exciting  events  which  have 
occurred  in  this  one  locality  in  connection  with  the 
Yaudois  struggle  for  countr}^  and  liberty. 

Let  us  now  proceed  up  the  valley  of  Angrogna, 
towards  the  famous  stronghold  of  the  Pra  du  Tour,  the 
object  of  those  repeated  attacks  of  the  enemy  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Pochemalan.  As  we  advance,  the 
mountains  gradually  close  in  upon  the  valley,  leaving 
a  comparatively  small  width  of  pasture  land  by  the 
river-side.  At  the  hamlet  of  Serre  the  carriage  road 
ends  ;  and  from  thence  the  valley  grows  narrower,  the 
mountains  which  enclose  it  become  more  rugged  and 
abrupt,  until  there  is  room  enough  only  for  a  footpath 
along  a  rocky  ledge,  and  the  torrent  running  in  its 
deep  bed  alongside.  This  continues  for  a  considerable 
distance,  the  path  in  some  places  being  overhung  by 


PRA  DU  TOUR.  391 

precipices,  or  cncroaclied  upon  by  rocks  and  boulders 
fallen  from  tlie  lieigbts,  until  at  length  we  emerge 
from  tbe  defile,  and  find  ourselves  in  a  comparatively- 
open  space,  the  famous  Pra  du  Tour;  the  defile  we 
have  passed,  alongside  the  torrent  and  overhung  by 
the  rocks,  being  known  as  the  Barricade. 

The  Pra  du  Tour,  or  Meadow  of  the  Tower,  is  a 
little  amphitheatre  surrounded  by  rugged  and  almost 
inaccessible  mountains,  situated  at  the  head  of  the 
valley  of  Angrogna.  The  steep  slopes  bring  down 
into  this  deep  dell  the  headwaters  of  the  torrent,  which 
escape  among  the  rocks  down  the  defile  we  have  just 
ascended.  The  path  up  the  defile  forms  the  only  ap- 
proach to  the  Pra  from  the  valley,  but  it  is  so  narrow, 
tortuous,  and  difficult,  that  the  labours  of  only  a  few 
men  in  blocking  up  the  pathway  with  rocks  and  stones 
that  lie  ready  at  hand,  might  at  any  time  so 'barricade 
the  approach  as  to  render  it  impracticable.  The 
extremely  secluded  position  of  the  place,  its  natural 
strength  and  inaccessibility,  and  its  proximity  to  the 
principal  Yaudois  towns  and  villages,  caused  it  to  be 
regarded  from  the  earliest  times  as  their  principal 
refuge.  It  was  their  fastness,  their  fortress,  and  often 
their  home.  It  was  more — it  was  their  school  and 
college  ;  for  in  the  depths  of  the  Pra  du  Tour  the 
pastors,  or  harhas*  educated  young  men  for  the 
ministry,  and  provided  for  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  Yaudois  population. 

It  was  the  importance  of  the  Pra  du  Tour  as  a 
stronghold  that  rendered  it  so  often  the  object  of 
attack  through  the  valley  of  Angrogna.  When  the 
hostile  troops  of  Savoy  advanced  upon  La  Tour,  the 

*  Bnrha — a  title  of  respect;  in  the  Vaudois  dialect  literally  signify, 
in  or  an  imcle. 


392        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAULOIS. 

inliabitants  of  tlie  neiglibouring  valleys  at  once  fled  to 
the  Pra,  into  which  they  drove  their  cattle,  and  carried 
what  provisions  they  could ;  there  constructing  mills, 
ovens,  houses,  and  all  that  was  requisite  for  subsistence, 
as  in  a  fort.  The  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  stood  on 
their  guard  to  defend  the  passes  of  the  Yachere  and 
Boussine,  at  the  extreme  heads  of  the  valley,  as  well 
as  the  defile  of  the  Barricade,  while  other  bodies, 
stationed  lower  down,  below  the  Barricade,  prepared  to 
resist  the  troops  seeking  to  force  an  entrance  up  the 
valley  ;  and  hence  the  repeated  battles  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Rochemalan  above  described. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  defeat  of  the  Count  de  la 
Trinite  by  the  little  Yaudois  band  near  the  village  of 
Angrogna,  in  November,  1560,  the  general  drew  off, 
and  waited  the  arrival  of  reinforcements.  A  large 
body  of  Spanish  veterans  having  joined  him,  in  the 
course  of  the  following  spring  he  again  proceeded  up 
the  valley,  determined,  if  possible,  to  force  the  Barri- 
cade— the  royal  forces  now  numbering  some  seven 
thousand  men,  all  disciplined  troops.  The  peasants, 
finding  their  first  position  no  longer  tenable  in  the 
face  of  such  numbers,  abandoned  Angrogna  and  the 
lower  villages,  and  retired,  with  the  whole  population, 
to  the  Pra  du  Tour.  The  Count  followed  them  with 
his  main  army,  at  the  same  time  directing  two  other 
lodies  of  troops  to  advance  upon  the  place  round  by 
the  mountains,  one  hj  the  heights  of  the  Yachere,  and 
another  by  Les  Fourests.  The  defenders  of  the  Pra 
would  thus  be  assailed  from  three  sides  at  once,  their 
forces  divided,  and  victory  rendered  certain. 

But  the  Count  did  not  calculate  upon  the  desperate 
bravery  of  the  defenders.  All  three  bodies  were 
beaten  back  in  succession.     For  four  days  the  Count 


PRA  DU  TOUR.  393 

made  every  effort  to  force  tlio  defile,  and  failed.  Two 
colonels,  eiglit  captains,  and  four  hundred  men  fell  in 
these  desperate  assaults,  without  gaining  an  inch  of 
ground.  On  the  fifth  day  a  combined  attack  was  made 
with  the  reserve,  composed  of  Sj^anish  companies,  but 
this,  too,  failed ;  and  the  troops,  wdien  ordered  to 
return  to  the  charge,  refused  to  obey.  The  Count, 
who  commanded,  is  said  to  have  wept  as  he  sat  on  a 
rock  and  looked  upon  so  many  of  his  dead — the 
soldiers  themselves  exclaiming,  "  God  fights  for  these 
people,  and  we  do  them  wrong  ! " 

About  a  hundred  years  later,  the  Marquis  de 
Pianesse,  who,  like  the  Count  de  la  Trinite,  had  been 
defeated  at  Eochemalan,  made  a  similar  attempt  to 
surprise  the  Yaudois  stronghold,  with  a  like  result. 
The  peasants  were  commanded  on  this  occasion  by 
John  Leger,  the  pastor  and  historian.  Those  who 
were  unarmed  hurled  rocks  and  stones  on  the  assailants 
from  the  heights ;  and  the  troops  being  thus  thrown 
into  confusion,  the  Yaudois  rushed  from  behind  their 
ramparts,  and  drove  them  in  a  state  of  total  rout  down 
the  valley. 

On  entering  the  Pra  du  Tour,  one  of  the  most  pro- 
minent objects  that  meets  the  eye  is  the  Eoman 
Catholic  chapel  recently  erected  there,  though  the  few 
inhabitants  of  the  district  are  still  almost  entirely 
Protestant.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has,  however, 
now  done  what  the  Poman  Catholic  armies  failed  to  do 
— established  itself  in  the  midst  of  the  Yaudois  strong- 
hold, though  by  no  means  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

Desirous  of  ascertaining,  if  possible,  the  site  of  the 
ancient  college,  we  proceeded  up  the  Pra,  and  hailed  a 
YounG:  woman  whom  we  observed  crossino-  the  rustic 
bridge  over  the  Pele,   one   of   the  mountain  rivulets 


394       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

running  into  the  torrent  of  Angrogna.  Inquiring  of 
her  as  to  the  site  of  the  college,  she  told  us  we  had 
already  passed  it,  and  led  us  back  to  the  place — up 
the  rocky  side  of  the  hill  leading  to  the  Yachere — 
past  the  cottage  where  she  herself  lived,  and  pointed  to 
the  site:  "There,"  she  said,  "is  where  the  ancient 
college  of  the  Yaudois  stood."  The  old  building  has, 
however,  long  since  been  removed,  the  present  struc- 
ture being  merely  part  of  a  small  farmsteading. 
Higher  up  the  steep  hill- side,  on  successive  ledges  of 
rock,  are  the  ruins  of  various  buildings,  some  of  which 
may  have  been  dwellings,  and  one,  larger  than  the 
rest,  on  a  broader  plateau,  with  an  elder-tree  growing 
in  the  centre,  may  possibly  have  been  the  temple. 

From  the  higher  shelves  on  this  mountain-side  the 
view  is  extremelj^  wild  and  grand.  The  acclivities 
which  surround  the  head  of  the  Pra  seem  as  if  battle- 
mented  walls ;  the  mountain  opposite  throws  its 
sombre  shadow  over  the  ravine  in  which  the  torrent 
rune ;  whilst,  down  the  valley,  rock  seems  piled  on 
rock,  and  mountain  on  mountain.  All  is  perfectly 
still,  and  the  silence  is  only  audible  by  the  occasional 
tinkling  of  a  sheep-bell,  or  the  humming  of  a  bee  in 
search  of  flowers  on  the  mountain-side.  So  peaceful 
and  quiet  is  the  place,  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  it 
could  ever  have  been  the  scene  of  such  deadly  strife, 
and  rung  with  the  shouts  of  men  thirsting  for  each 
other's  blood. 

After  lingering  about  the  place  until  the  sun  was 
far  on  his  way  towards  the  horizon,  we  returned  by  the 
road  we  had  come,  the  valley  seeming  more  beautiful 
than  ever  imder  the  glow  of  evening,  and  arrived 
at  our  destination  about  dusk,  to  find  the  fireflies  dart- 
ing about  the  streets  of  La  Tour. 


MR.  EDWARD  MILSOM.  395 

The  next  day  saw  ns  at  Turin,  and  our  summer 
excursion  at  an  end.  Mr.  Milsom,  wlio  had  so  plea- 
santly accompanied  me  through  the  valleys,  had  been 
summoned  to  attend  the  death-bed  of  a  friend  at 
Antibes,  and  he  set  out  on  the  journey  forthwith. 
While  still  there,  he  received  a  telegram  intimating 
the  death  of  his  daughter  at  Allevard,  near  Grenoble, 
and  he  arrived  only  in  time  to  attend  her  funeral. 
Two  months  later,  he  lost  another  dear  daughter; 
shortly  after,  his  mother-in-law  died ;  and  in  the 
following  December  he?  himself  died  suddenly  of  heart 
disease,  and  followed  them  to  the  grave. 

One  could  not  but  conceive  a  hearty  liking  for 
Edward  Milsom — he  was  such  a  thoroughly  good  man. 
He  was  a  native  of  London,  but  spent  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  at  Lyons,  in  France,  where  he  long  since 
settled  and  married.  He  there  carried  on  a  large 
business  as  a  silk  merchant,  but  was  always  ready  to 
give  a  portion  of  his  time  and  money  to  help  forward 
any  good  work.  He  was  an  "  ancien,"  or  elder,  of  the 
Evangelical  church  at  Lyons,  originally  founded  by 
Adolphe  Monod,  to  whom  he  was  also  related  by 
marriage. 

Some  years  since  he  was  very  much  interested  by 
the  perusal  of  Pastor  Best's  account  of  his  visit  to  the 
scene  of  Felix  IN^eff's  labours  in  the  High  Alps.  He 
felt  touched  by  the  simple,  faithful  character  of  the 
people,  and  keenly  sj^mpathised  with  their  destitute 
condition.  *'  Here,"  said  he,  ''  is  a  field  in  which  I 
may  possibly  be  of  some  use."  And  he  at  once  went  to 
their  help.  He  visited  the  district  of  Fressinieres, 
including  the  hamlet  of  Dormilhouse,  as  well  as  the 
more  distant  Aillages  of  Arvieux  and  Sans  Yeran,  up 
the  vale  of  Queyras  ;  and  nearly  every  year  thereafter 


396       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS, 

he  devoted  a  certain  portion  of  his  time  in  visiting  the 
poorer  congregations  of  the  district,  giving  them  such 
help  and  succour  as  lay  in  his  power. 

His  repaated  visits  made  him  well  known  to  the 
people  of  the  valleys,  who  valued  him  as  a  friend,  if  they 
did  not  even  love  him  as  a  brother.  His  visits  were 
also  greatly  esteemed  by  the  pastors,  who  stood  much 
in  need  of  encouragement  and  help.  He  cheered  the 
wavering,  strengthened  the  feeble-hearted,  and  stimu- 
lated all  to  renewed  life  and  action.  Wherever  he 
went,  a  light  seemed  to  shine  in  his  path  ;  and  when 
he  departed,  he  was  followed  by  many  blessings. 

In  one  place  he  would  arrange  for  the  opening  of  a 
new  place  of  worship  ;  in  another,  for  the  opening  of  a 
boys'  school ;  in  a  third,  for  the  industrial  employment 
of  girls ;  and  wherever  there  was  any  little  heart- 
burning or  jealousy  to  be  allayed,  he  would  set  himself 
to  remove  it.  His  admirable  tact,  his  unfailing  temper, 
and  excellent  good  sense,  rendered  him  a  wise  counsellor 
and  a  most  successful  conciliator. 

The  last  time  Mr.  Milsom  visited  England,  towards 
the  end  of  1869,  he  was  occupied,  as  usual,  in  collecting 
subscriptions  for  the  poor  Yaudois  of  the  High  Alps. 
Now  that  the  good  "merchant  missionary"  has  rested 
from  his  labours,  they  will  indeed  feel  the  loss  of  their 
friend.     Who  is  to  assume  his  mantle  ? 


CHAPTER  YIL 

THE     GLORIOUS     RETURN: 
AN  EPISODE  IX  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE    ITALIAN   V^\UDOIS. 

WHAT  is  known  as  The  Glorious  Heturn,  or  re- 
entry of  tlie  exiled  Yaudois  in  1689  to  resume 
possession  of  the  valleys  from  which  they  had  been 
banished,  will  alwaj's  stand  out  as  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  events  in  history. 

If  ever  a  people  fairly  established  their  right  to  live 
in.  their  own  country,  and  to  worship  God  after  their 
own  methods,  the  Yaudois  had  surely  done  so.  They 
had  held  conscientiously  and  consistently  to  their 
religion  for  nearly  five  hundred  years,  during  which 
they  laboured  under  many  disabilities  and  sufi'ered 
much  persecution.  But  the  successive  Dukes  of  Savoy 
were  no  better  satisfied  with  them  as  subjects  than 
before.  They  could  not  brook  that  any  part  of  their 
people  should  be  of  a  different  form  of  religion  from 
that  professed  by  themselves  ;  and  they  continued,  at 
the  instance  of  successive  popes,  to  let  slip  the  dogs  of 
war  upon  the  valleys,  in  the  hopes  of  eventually  com- 
pelling the  Yaudois  to  "come  in"  and  make  their  peace 
with  the  Church. 

The  result  of  these  invasions  was  almost  uniform. 
At  the  first  sudden  inroad  of  the  troops,  the  j)cople, 


398        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

taken  by  surprise,  usually  took  to  flight ;  on  wliicli 
their  dwellings  were  burnt  and  their  fields  laid  waste. 
But  when  they  had  time  to  rallj'-  and  collect  their 
forces,  the  almost  invariable  result  was  that  the 
Piedmontese  were  driven  out  of  the  valleys  again  with 
ignominy  and  loss.  The  Duke's  invasion  of  1655  was, 
however,  attended  with  greater  success  than  usual. 
His  armies  occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  valleys, 
though  the  Yaudois  still  held  out,  and  made  occasional 
successful  sallies  from  their  mountain  fastnesses.  At 
length,  the  Protestants  of  the  Swiss  Confederation, 
taking  compassion  on  their  co-religionists  in  Piedmont, 
sent  ambassadors  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  at  Turin  to 
intercede  for  their  relief;  and  the  result  was  the 
amnesty  granted  to  them  in  that  year  under  the  title 
of  the  "  Patents  of  Grace."  The  terms  were  very 
hard,  but  they  were  agreed  to.  The  Yaudois  were  to 
be  permitted  to  re-occupy  their  valleys,  conditional  on 
their  rebuilding  all  the  Catholic  churches  which  had 
been  destroyed,  paying  to  the  Duke  an  indemnity  of 
fifty  thousand  francs,  and  ceding  to  him  the  richest 
lands  in  the  valley  of  Luzerna — the  last  relics  of  their 
fortunes  being  thus  taken  from  them  to  remunerate 
the  barbarity  of  their  persecutors. 

It  was  also  stipulated  by  this  treat}^,  that  the  pastors 
of  the  Yaudois  churches  were  to  be  natives  of  the 
district  only,  and  that  they  were  to  be  at  liberty  to 
administer  religious  instruction  in  their  own  manner 
in  all  the  Yaudois  parishes,  excepting  that  of  St.  John, 
near  La  Tour,  where  their  worship  was  interdicted. 
The  only  persons  excepted  from  the  terms  of  the 
amnesty  were  Javanel,  the  heroic  old  captain,  and 
Jean  Leger,  the  pastor-historian,  the  most  prominent 
leaders   of  the  Yaudois  in    the    recent   war,   both  of 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  399 

whom  were   declared   to  be  banislied    the   ducal   do- 
minions. 

Under  this  treaty  the  Yaudois  enjoyed  peace  for 
about  thirty  years,  during  which  they  restored  the 
cultivation  of  the  valleys,  rebuilt  the  villages,  and  were 
acknowledged  to  be  among  the  most  loyal,  peaceable, 
and  industrious  of  the  subjects  of  Savoy. 

There  were,  however,  certain  parts  of  the  valleys  to 
which  the  amnesty  granted  by  the  Duke  did  not  apply. 
Thus,  it  did  not  apply  to  the  valleys  of  Perouse  and 
Pragela,  which  did  not  then  form  part  of  the  dominions 
of  Savoy,  but  were  included  within  the  French  frontier. 
It  was  out  of  this  circumstance  that  a  difficulty  arose 
with  the  French  monarch,  which  issued  in  the  revival 
of  the  persecution  in  the  valleys,  the  banishment  of 
the  Vaudois  into  Switzerland,  and  their  eventual 
*'  Glorious  Return"  in  the  manner  we  are  about  briefly 
to  narrate. 

When  Louis  XIY.  of  France  revoked  the  Edict  of 
x^antes  in  1685,  and  interdicted  all  Protestant  worship 
throughout  his  dominions,  the  law  of  course  applied  to 
the  vallej^s  of  Perouse  and  Pragela  as  to  the  other 
parts  of  France.  The  Yaudois  pastors  were  banished, 
and  the  people  were  forbidden  to  profess  any  other 
religion  than  that  prescribed  by  the  King,  under 
penalty  of  confiscation  of  their  goods,  imprisonment, 
or  banishment.  The  Yaudois  who  desired  to  avoid 
these  penalties  while  they  still  remained  staunch  to 
their  faith,  did  what  so  many  Frenchmen  then  did — 
they  fled  across  the  frontier  and  took  refuge  in  foreign 
lands.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  French  valleys 
went  northward  into  Switzerland,  while  others  passed 
across  the  mountains  towards  the  south,  and  took 
refuge  in  the  valley  of  the  Pelice,  where  the  Yaudois 


400        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

religion  continued  to  be  tolerated  under  the  terms  of 
the  amnesty  above  referred  to,  which  had  been  granted 
by  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

The  French  king,  when  he  found  his  Huguenot 
subjects  flying  in  all  directions  rather  than  remain  in 
France  and  be  "converted"  to  Homan  Catholicism, 
next  tried  to  block  up  the  various  avenues  of  escape, 
and  to  prevent  the  rulers  of  the  adjoining  countries 
from  giving  the  fugitives  asylum.  Great  was  his  dis- 
pleasure when  he  heard  of  the  flight  of  the  Yaudois  of 
Perouse  and  Pragela  into  the  adjoining  valleys.  He 
directed  the  French  ambassador  at  Turin  to  call  upon 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  require  him  to  prevent  their 
settlement  within  his  dominions.  At  the  same  time, 
he  called  upon  the  Duke  to  take  %te])s  to  compel  the 
conversion  of  his  people  from  the  pretended  reformed 
faith,  and  offered  the  aid  of  his  troops  to  enforce  their 
submission,  *'  at  whatever  cost.'' 

The  Duke  was  irritated  at  the  manner  in  which  he 
was  approached.  Louis  XIY.  was  treating  him  as  a 
vassal  of  France  rather  than  as  an  independent 
sovereign.  But  he  felt  himself  to  be  weak,  and  com- 
paratively powerless  to  resent  the  insult.  So  he  first 
temporised,  then  vacillated,  and  being  again  pressed  bj'- 
the  French  king,  he  eventually  yielded.  The  amnesty 
Avas  declared  to  be  at  an  end,  and  the  Yaudois  were 
ordered  forthwith  to  become  members  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.  An  edict  was  issued  on  the  31st  of  Januar}^, 
1686,  forbidding  the  exercise  by  the  Yaudois  of  their 
religion,  abolishing  their  ancient  privileges,  and 
ordering  the  demolition  of  all  their  places  of  worship. 
Pastors  and  schoolmasters  who  refused  to  be  converted 
were  ordered  to  quit  the  country  within  fifteen  days, 
on  pain  of  death  and  confiscation  of  their  goods.     All 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  401 

refugee  Protestants  from  France  were  ordered  to  leave 
under  the  same  penalty.  All  children  born  of 
Protestant  parents  were  to  be  compulsorily  educated  as 
Roman  Catholics.  This  barbarous  measure  was  merely 
u  repetition  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy  in  Piedmont  of 
what  his  master  Louis  XIY.  had  already  done  in 
France. 

The  Vaudois  expostulated  with  their  sovereign, 
but  in  vain.  They  petitioned,  but  there  was  no  reply. 
They  requested  the  interposition  of  the  Swiss  Govern- 
ment as  before,  but  the  Duke  took  no  notice  of  their 
memorial.  The  question  of  resistance  was  then  dis- 
cussed ;  but  the  people  were  without  leaders.  Javanel 
was  living  in  banishment  at  Geneva — old  and  worn  out, 
and  unable  to  lead  them.  Besides,  the  Yaudois,  before 
taking  up  arms,  wished  to  exhaust  every  means  of  con- 
ciliation. Ambassadors  next  came  from  Switzerland, 
who  urged  them  to  submit  to  the  clemency  of  the  Duke, 
and  suggested  that  they  should  petition  him  for  per- 
mission to  leave  the  country!  The  Yaudois  were 
stupefied  by  the  proposal.  They  were  thus  asked, 
without  a  contest,  to  submit  to  all  the  ignominy  and 
punishment  of  defeat,  and  to  terminate  their  very 
existence  as  a  people  !  The  ambassadors  represented 
that  resistance  to  the  combined  armies  of  Savov, 
France,  and  Spain,  without  leaders,  and  with  less 
than  three  thousand  combatants,  was  little  short  of 
madness. 

Nevertheless,  a  number  of  the  Yaudois  determined 
not  to  leave  their  valleys  without  an  attempt  to  hold 
them,  as  they  had  so  often  successfully  done  before. 
The  united  armies  of  France  and  Savoy  then  advanced 
upon  the  valleys,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  a 
general  attack  upon  the    Yaudois  position  on    Easter 


402        THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

Monday,  1686,  at  break  of  day, — the  Duke  of  Savo}^ 
assailing  tke  valley  of  Luzerna,  while  Catinait,  com- 
mander of  the  Frencli  troops,  advanced  on  St.  Martin. 
Catinat  made  the  first  attack  on  the  Tillage  of  St. 
Germain,  and  was  beaten  back  with  heavy  loss  after 
six  hours'  fighting.  Henry  Arnaud,  the  Huguenot 
pastor  from  Die  in  Dauphiny,  of  which  he  was  a 
native,  particularly  distinguished  himself  by  his  bravery 
in  this  affair,  and  from  that  time  began  to  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  promising  of  the  Yaudois  leaders. 

Catinat  renewed  the  attack  on  the  following  day 
with  the  assistance  of  fresh  troops  ;  and  he  eventually 
succeeded  in  overcoming  the  resistance  of  the  handful 
of  men  who  opposed  him,  and  sweeping  the  valley  of 
St.  Martin.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  indis- 
criminately put  to  the  sword.  In  some  of  the  parishes 
no  resistance  was  offered,  the  inhabitants  submitting 
to  the  Duke's  proclamation  ;  but  whether  they  submitted 
or  not,  made  no  difference  in  their  treatment,  which 
was  barbarous  in  all  cases. 

Meanwhile,  the  Duke  of  Savoy's  army  advanced  from 
the  vale  of  Luzerna  upon  the  celebrated  heights  of 
Angrogna,  and  assailed  tho  Yaudois  assembled  there  at 
all  points.  The  resistance  lasted  for  an  entire  day,  and 
when  night  fell,  both  forces  slept  on  the  ground  uj)on 
which  they  had  fought,  kindling  their  bivouac  fires  on 
both  sides.  On  the  following  day  the  attack  was 
renewed,  and  again,  the  battle  raged  until  night.  Then 
Don  Gabriel  of  Savoy,  who  was  in  command,  resolved 
to  employ  the  means  which  Catinat  had  found  so  suc- 
cessful :  he  sent  forward  messengers  to  inform  the 
Yaudois  that  their  brethren  of  the  Yal  St.  Martin  had 
laid  down  their  arms  and  been  pardoned,  inviting  them 
to  follow  their  example.     The  result  of  further  parley 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  403 

was,  that  on  the  express  promise  of  his  Iloyal  Highness 
that  they  should  receive  pardon,  and  that  neither  their 
persons  nor  those  of  their  wives  or  children  should  be 
touched,  the  credulous  Yaudois,  still  hoping  for  fair 
treatment,  laid  down  their  arms,  and  permitted  the 
ducal  troops  to  take  possession  of  their  entrenchments  ! 

The  same  treacherous  strategy  proved  equally  suc- 
cessful against  the  defenders  of  the  Pra  du  Tour. 
After  beating  back  their  assailants  and  firmly  holding 
their  ground  for  an  entire  day,  they  were  told  of 
the  surrender  of  their  compatriots,  promised  a  full 
pardon,  and  assured  of  life  and  liberty,  on  condition  of 
immediately  ceasing  further  hostilities.  They  accord- 
ingly consented  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  the 
impregnable  fastness  of  the  Pra  du  Tour,  which  had 
never  been  taken  by  force,  thus  fell  before  falsehood 
and  perfidy.  "  The  defenders  of  this  ancient  sanctuary 
of  the  Church,"  says  Dr.  Muston,  "  were  loaded  with 
irons  ;  their  children  were  carried  off  and  scattered 
through  the  Poman  Catholic  districts  ;  their  wives  and 
daughters  were  violated,  massacred,  or  made  captives. 
As  for  those  that  still  remained,  all  whom  the  enemy 
could  seize  became  a  prey  devoted  to  carnage,  spoliation, 
fire,  excesses  which  cannot  be  told,  and  outrages  which 
it  would  be  imi^ossible  to  describe."* 

'•'All  the  valleys  are  now  exterminated,"  wrote  a 
French  officer  to  his  friends  ;  *'  the  people  are  all  killed, 
hanged,  or  massacred."  The  Duke,  Victor  Amadous, 
issued  a  decree,  declaring  the  Yaudois  to  be  guilty  of 
high  treason,  and  confiscating  all  their  property.- 
Arnaud  says  as  many  as  eleven  thousand  persons  were 
killed,  or  perished  in  prison,  or  died  of  want,  in  conse- 

*  Muston's  *'  Israel    of  the    Alps,"    translated  by  Montgomery  ; 
Glasgow,  1857;  vol.  i.  p.  446. 

27 


404-       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

quence  of  this  horrible  Easter  festival  of  blood.  Six 
tboiisand  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  greater  number 
of  tbese  died  in  gaol  of  bunger  and  disease.  Wlien 
tbe  prisons  were  opened,  and  the  wretcbed  survivors 
were  ordered  to  quit  tbe  country,  forbidden  to  return 
to  it  on  j^ain  of  deatb,  only  about  two  thousand  six 
hundred  contrived  to  struggle  across  the  frontier  into 
Switzerland. 

And  thus  at  last  the  Yaudois  Church  seemed  utterly 
uprooted  and  destroyed.  What  the  Dukes  of  Savoy 
had  so  often  attempted  in  vain  was  now  accomplished. 
A  second  St.  Bartholomew  had  been  achieved,  and 
Rome  rang  with  Te  Deums  in  praise  of  the  final  dis- 
persion of  the  Yaudois.  The  Pope  sent  to  Yictor 
Amadous  II.  a  special  brief,  congratulating  him  on  the 
extirpation  of  heresy  in  his  dominions ;  and  Pied- 
montese  and  Savoyards,  good  Catholics,  were  presented 
with  the  lands  from  which  the  Yaudois  had  been  driven. 
Those  of  them  who  remained  in  the  country  ''  uncon- 
verted" were  as  so  many  scattered  fugitives  in  the 
mountains — sheep  wandering  about  without  a  shepherd. 
Some  of  the  Yaudois,  for  the  sake  of  their  families  and 
homes,  pretended  conversion  ;  but  these  are  admitted  to 
have  been  comparatively  few  in  number.  In  short,  the 
"Israel  of  the  Alps"  seemed  to  be  no  more,  and  its 
people  utterly  and  for  ever  dispersed.  Pierre  Allix, 
the  Huguenot  refugee  pastor  in  England,  in  his 
*'  History  of  the  Ancient  Churches  of  Piedmont," 
dedicated  to  AYilliam  III.,  regarded  the  Yaudois 
Church  as  obliterated — "  their  present  desolation 
seeming  so  universal,  that  the  world  looks  upon  them 
no  otherwise  than  as  irrecoverably  lost,  and  finally 
destroyed." 

Three  years  passed.     The  expelled  Yaudois  reached 


THE  GLORTOUS  RETURN.  405 

Switzerland  in  greatly  reduced  numbers,  many  womeu 
and  children  having  perished  on  their  mountain 
journey.  The  inhabitants  of  Geneva  received  them 
with  great  hospitality,  clothing  and  feeding  them  until 
they  were  able  to  proceed  on  their  way  northward. 
Some  went  into  Brandenburg,  some  into  Holland, 
while  others  settled  to  various  branches  of  industry  in 
different  j)arts  of  Switzerland.  Many  of  them,  however, 
experienced  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  settlement. 
Those  who  had  entered  the  Palatinate  were  driven 
thence  by  war,  and  those  who  had  entered  AYurtemburg 
were  expelled  by  the  Grand  Duke,  who  feared  incurring 
the  ire  of  Louis  XIY.  by  giving  them  shelter  and  pro- 
tection. Hence  many  little  bands  of  the  Yaudois 
refugees  long  continued  to  wander  along  the  valley  of 
the  Ehine,  unable  to  find  rest  for  their  weary  feet. 
There  were  others  trying  to  earn  a  precarious  living  in 
Geneva  and  Lausanne,  and  along  the  shores  of  Lake 
Leman.  Some  of  these  were  men  who  had  fought  under 
Javanel  in  his  heroic  combats  w^ith  the  Piedmontese ; 
and  they  thought  with  bitter  grief  of  the  manner  in 
which  they  had  fallen  into  the  trap  of  Catinat  and  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  and  abandoned  their  country  almost 
without  a  struggle. 

Then  it  was  that  the  thought  occurred  to  them 
whether  they  might  not  yet  strike  a  blow  for  the 
recovery  of  their  yalleys  !  The  idea  seemed  chimerical 
in  the  extreme.  A  few  hundred  destitute  men, 
however  valiant,  to  think  of  recovering  a  country 
defended  by  the  combined  armies  of  France  and  Savoy  ! 
Javanel,  the  old  Yaudois  hero,  disabled  by  age  and 
w^ounds,  was  still  alive — an  exile  at  Geneva — and  he 
was  consulted  on  the  subject.  Javanel  embraced  the 
project   with   enthusiasm ;    and   the   invasion   of   the 


4o6       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

valleys  was  resolved  upon  !  A  more  daring,  and  appa- 
rently more  desperate  enterprise,  was  never  planned. 

Who  was  to  be  their  leader  ?  Javanel  himself  was 
disabled.  Thongh  his  mind  was  clear,  and  his  patriotic 
ardour  unquenched,  his  body  was  weak ;  and  all  that 
he  could  do  was  to  encourage  and  advise.  But  he 
found  a  noble  substitute  in  Henry  Arnaud,  the  Hugue- 
not refugee,  who  had  already  distinguished  himself  in 
his  resistance  to  the  troops  of  Savoy.  And  Arnaud 
was  now  ready  to  offer  up  his  life  for  the  recovery  of 
ihe  valleys. 

The  enterprise  was  kej)t  as  secret  as  possible,  yet  not 
so  close  as  to  prevent  the  authorities  of  Berne  obtaining 
some  inkling  of  their  intentions.  Three  confidential 
messengers  were  first  dispatched  to  the  valleys  to  ascer- 
tain the  disposition  of  the  population,  and  more  par- 
ticularly to  examine  the  best  route  by  which  an 
invasion  might  be  made.  On  their  return  with  the 
necessary  information,  the  plan  was  settled  by  Javanel, 
as  it  was  to  be  carried  out  by  Arnaud.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  magistrates  of  Geneva,  having  obtained 
information  as  to  the  intended  movement,  desirous  of 
averting  the  hostility  of  France  and  Savoy,  required 
Javanel  to  leave  their  city,  and  he  at  once  retired  to 
Ouchy,  a  little  farther  up  the  lake. 

The  greatest  difficulty  experienced  by  the  Yaudois 
in  carrying  out  their  enterprise  was  the  want  of  means. 
They  were  poor,  destitute  refugees,  without  arms, 
ammunition,  or  money  to  buy  them.  To  obtain  the 
requisite  means,  Arnaud  made  a  journey  into  Holland, 
for  the  purpose  of  communicating  the  intended  project 
to  "William  of  Orange.  William  entered  cordially  into 
the  proposed  plan,  recommended  Arnaud  to  several 
Huguenot  officers,  who  afterwards  took  part   in   the 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  407 

expedition,  supplied  liim  witli  assistance  in  money,  and 
encouraged  him  to  carry  out  tlie  design.  Several 
private  persons  in  Holland — amongst  others  the  post- 
master-general at  Leyden — also  largely  contributed  to 
the  enterprise. 

xlt  length  all  was  ready.  The  men  who  intended 
to  take  part  in  the  expedition  came  together  from 
various  quarters.  Some  came  from  Brandenburg, 
others  from  Bavaria  and  distant  parts  of  Switzerland  ; 
and  among  those  who  joined  them  was  a  body  of 
French  Huguenots,  willing  to  share  in  their  dangers 
and  their  glor3\  One  of  their  number.  Captain  Turrel, 
like  Arnaud,  a  native  of  Die  in  Dauphiny,  was  even 
elected  as  the  general  of  the  expedition.  Their  rendez- 
vous was  in  the  forest  of  Prangins,  near  ]^yon,  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva  ;  and  there,  on  the 
night  of  the  16th  of  August,  1689,  they  met  in  the 
hollow  recesses  of  the  wood.  Fifteen  boats  had  been 
got  together,  and  lay  off  the  shore.  After  a  fervent 
prayer  by  the  pastor-general  Arnaud,  imploring  a 
blessing  upon  the  enterprise,  as  many  of  the  men  as 
could  embark  got  into  the  boats.  As  the  lake  is  there 
at  its  narrowest,  they  soon  rowed  across  to  the  other 
side,  near  the  town  of  Yvoire,  and  disembarked  on  the 
shore  of  Savoy.  Arnaud  had  posted  sentinels  in  all 
directions,  and  the  little  body  waited  the  arrival  of  the 
remainder  of  their  comrades  from  the  opposite  shore. 
Thoy  had  all  crossed  the  lake  by  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  ;  and  about  eight  hundred  men,  divided  into 
nineteen  companies,*  each  provided  with  its  captain, 
were  now  ready  to  march. 

*  Of  the  nineteen  companies  three  were  composed  of  the  Vaudois 
of  Angro£?na  ;  those  of  Bohi  and  St.  John  iurnished  two  each  ;  and 
those  of  La  Tour,  Villar,  Prarustin,  Prali,  Macel,  St.  Germain,  and 
Pramol,  furnished  one  each.    The  remaining  six  companies  were  com- 


4o8       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

At  tlie  very  commencement,  however,  they  met  with 
a  misfortune.  One  of  the  pastors,  having  gone  to  seek 
a  guide  in  the  village  near  at  hand,  was  seized  as  a 
prisoner  by  the  local  authorities,  and  carried  off.  On 
this,  the  Yaudois,  seeing  that  they  were  treated  as 
enemies,  sent  a  party  to  summon  Yvoire  to  open  its 
gates,  and  it  obeyed.  The  lord  of  the  manor  and  the 
receiver  of  taxes  were  taken  as  hostages,  and  made  to 
accompany  the  troop  until  they  reached  the  next  com- 
mune, when  they  were  set  at  liberty,  and  replaced  by 
other  hostages. 

Y^hen  it  became  known  that  the  little  army  of 
Yaudois  had  set  out  on  their  march,  troops  were  dis- 
patched from  all  quarters  to  intercept  them  and  cut 
them  off;  and  it  was  believed  that  their  destruction 
was  inevitable.  ^'  What  possible  chance  is  there," 
asked  the  Historic  Mercury  of  the  day,  ''  of  this  small 
body  of  men  penetrating  to  their  native  country  through 
the  masses  of  French  and  Piedmontese  troops  accumu- 
lating from  all  sides,  without  being  crushed  and 
exterminated?  ''  " It  is  impossible,"  wrote  the  Leyclen 
Gazette,  "  notwithstanding  whatever  precautions  they 
may  take,  that  the  Yaudois  can  extricate  themselves 
without  certain  death,  and  the  Court  of  Savoy  may 
therefore  regard  itself  safe  so  far  as  they  are  con- 
cerned." 

]N"o  sooner  had  the  boats  left  the  shore  at  Nyon  for 
the  further  side  of  the  lake  than  the  young  seigneur  of 
Prangins,  Avho  had  been  watching  their  movements, 

posed  of  French  Huguenot  ref;igees  from  Dauphiny  and  Languedoc 
under  their  respective  otiBcers.  Besides  these,  there  were  different 
smaller  parties  who  constituted  a  volunteer  company.  The  entire 
force  of  about  eight  hundred  men  was  marshalled  in  three  divisions- 
vanguard,  main  body,  and  rearguard — and  this  arrangement  was 
strictly  observed  in  the  order  of  march. 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  409 

rode  off  at  full  speed  to  inform  tlie  Frcncli  resident  at 
Geneva  of  tlie  departure  of  tlie  Yaudois  ;  and  orders 
were  at  once  dispatched  to  Lyons  for  a  strong  body  of 
cavalry  to  march  immediately  towards  Savoy  to  cut 
them  off.  But  the  Yaudois  had  well  matured  their 
plans,  and  took  care  to  keep  out  of  reach  of  the  advan- 
cing enemy.  Their  route  at  first  lay  up  the  valleys 
towards  the  mountains,  whose  crests  they  followed, 
from  glacier  to  glacier,  in  places  almost  inaccessible  to 
regular  troops,  and  thus  they  eluded  the  combined 
forces  of  France  and  Savoy,  which  vainly  endeavoured 
to  bar  their  passage. 

The  first  day's  march  led  them  into  the  valley  of  the 
Arve,  by  the  Col  de  Yoirons,  from  which  they  took 
their  last  view  of  the  peaceful  Lake  of  Geneva ;  thence 
they  proceeded  by  the  pyramidal  mountain  called  the 
Mole  to  the  little  town  of  Yiu,  where  they  rested  for 
two  hours,  starting  again  by  moonlight,  and  passing 
through  St.  Joire,  where  the  magistrates  brought  out 
a  great  cask  of  wine,  and  placed  it  in  the  middle  of  the 
street  for  their  refreshment.  The  little  army,  however, 
did  not  halt  there,  but  marched  on  to  the  bare  hill  of 
Carman,  where,  after  solemn  ]3i'ayer,  they  encamped 
about  midnight,  sleeping  on  the  bare  ground.  Next 
day  found  them  in  front  of  the  small  walled  town  of 
Cluse,  in  the  rocky  gorge  of  the  Arve.  The  authorities 
shut  the  gates,  on  which  the  Yaudois  threatened  to 
storm  the  place,  when  the  gates  were  opened,  and  they 
marched  through  the  town,  the  inhabitants  standing 
under  arms  along  both  sides  of  the  street.  Here  the 
Yaudois  purchased  a  store  of  food  and  wine,  which 
they  duly  paid  for. 

They  then  proceeded  on  to  Sallanches,  where  resist- 
ance was  threatened.     They  found  a  body  of  men  posted 


410       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

on  the  wooden  bridge  wliicli  tliere  separated  tlie  Tillage 
of  St.  Martin  from  Sallanclies  ;  but  rusliing  forward, 
tbe  defenders  of  tbe  bridge  fled,  and  tlie  little  army 
passed  over  and  proceeded  to  range  themselves  in  order 
of  battle  over  against  tbe  town,  wbicb  was  defended  by 
six  hundred  troops.  The  Yaudois  having  threatened 
to  burn  the  town,  and  kill  the  hostages  whom  they 
had  taken  on  the  slightest  show  of  resistance,  the  threat 
had  its  effect,  and  they  were  permitted  to  pass  without 
further  opposition,  encamping  for  the  night  at  a  little 
village  about  a  league  further  on.  And  thus  closed 
the  second  day's  march. 

The  third  day  they  passed  over  the  mountains  of 
Lez  Pras  and  Haute  Luce,  seven  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea-level,  a  long  and  fatiguing  march.  At  one 
place  the  guide  lost  his  way,  and  rain  fell  heavily, 
soaking  the  men  to  the  skin.  The}^  spent  a  wretched 
night  in  some  empty  stables  at  the  hamlet  of  St. 
Nicholas  de  Verose ;  and  started  earlier  than  usual  on 
the  following  morning,  addressing  themselves  to  the 
formidable  work  of  climbing  the  Col  Bonhomme,  which 
they  passed  with  the  snow  up  to  their  knees.  They 
were  now  upon  the  crest  of  the  Alps,  looking  down 
upon  the  valley  of  the  Isere,  into  which  they  next 
descended.  They  traversed  the  valley  without  resist- 
ance, passing  through  St.  Germain  and  Scez,  turning 
aside  at  the  last-mentioned  place  up  the  valley  of 
Tignes,  thereby  avoiding  the  French  troops  lying  in 
wait  for  them  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Moutiers,  lower 
down  the  valley  of  the  Isere.  Later  in  the  evening 
they  reached  Laval,  at  the  foot  of  Mont  Iseran ;  and 
here  Arnaud,  for  the  first  time  during  eight  days, 
snatched  a  few  hours'  sleep  on  a  bed  in  the  village. 

The   sixth  day  saw  the   little  army  climbing  the 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  411 

steep  slopes  of  Mont  Iseran,  where  tlie  shepherds  gave 
them  milk  and  wished  them  God-speed ;  but  they 
warned  them  that  a  body  of  troops  lay  in  their  way  at 
Mont  Cenis.  On  they  went — over  the  mountain,  and 
along  the  crest  of  the  chain,  until  they  saw  Bonne val 
in  the  valley  beneath  them,  and  there  they  descended, 
passing  on  to  Bessant  in  the  valley  of  the  Arc,  where 
they  encamped  for  the  night. 

ISText  day  they  marched  on  Mont  Cenis,  which  they 
ascended.  As  they  were  crossing  the  mountain  a 
strange  incident  occurred.  The  Yaudois  saw  before 
them  a  large  convoy  of  mules  loaded  with  baggage. 
And  shortly  after  there  came  up  the  carriage  and 
equipage  of  some  grand  personage.  It  proved  to 
be  Cardinal  Banuzzi,  on  his  way  to  Bome  to  take  part 
in  the  election  of  Bope  Alexander  YIII.  The  Yaudois 
seized  the  mules  carrying  the  baggage,  which  contained 
important  documents  compromising  Louis  XIY.  with 
Yictor  Amadeus ;  and  it  is  said  that  in  consequence  of 
their  loss,  the  Cardinal,  who  himself  aspired  to  the 
tiara,  afterwards  died  of  chagrin,  crying  in  his  last 
moments,  "  My  papers  !  oh,  my  papers  ! '' 

The  passage  of  the  Great  and  Little  Cenis  was 
effected  with  great  difficulty.  The  snow  lay  thick  on 
the  ground,  though  it  was  the  month  of  August,  and 
the  travellers  descended  the  mountain  of  Tourliers  by 
a  precipice  rather  than  a  road.  When  night  fell,  they 
were  still  scattered  on  the  mountain,  and  lay  down  to 
snatch  a  brief  sleep,  overcome  with  hunger  and  fatigue. 
jN^ext  morning  they  gathered  together  again,  and 
descended  into  the  sterile  valley  of  the  Gaillon,  and 
shortly  after  proceeded  to  ascend  the  mountain 
opposite. 

They  were  now  close  upon  the  large  towns.     Susa 


412    "  THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

lay  a  little  to  the  east,  and  Exilles  was  directly  in  their 
way.  The  garrison  of  the  latter  place  came  out  to 
meet  them,  and  from  the  crest  of  the  mountain  rolled 
large  stones  and  flung  grenades  down  upon  the  invaders.  • 
Here  the  Yaudois  lost  some  men  and  prisoners,  and 
finding  the  further  ascent  impracticable,  they  retreated 
into  the  valley  from  which  they  had  come,  and  again 
ascended  the  steep  slope  of  Tourliers  in  order  to  turn 
the  heights  on  which  the  French  troops  were  posted. 
At  last,  after  great  fatigue  and  peril,  unable  to  proceed 
further,  they  gained  the  crest  of  the  mountain,  and 
sounded  their  clarions  to  summon  the  scattered  body. 

After  a  halt  of  two  hours  they  proceeded  along  the 
ridge,  and  perceived  through  the  mist  a  bod}^  of  soldiers 
marching  along  with  drums  beating ;  it  was  the  gar- 
rison of  Exilles.  The  Yaudois  were  recognised  and 
followed  by  the  soldiers  at  a  distance.  Proceeding  a 
little  further,  they  came  in  sight  of  the  long  valley  of 
the  Doire,  and  looking  down  into  it,  not  far  from  the 
bridge  of  Salabertrans,  they  discerned  some  thirty-six 
bivouac  fires  burning  on  the  j)lain,  indicating  the 
presence  of  a  large  force.  These  were  their  enemies — 
a  well-appointed  army  of  some  two  thousand  five 
hundred  men — whom  they  were  at  last  to  meet  in 
battle.  Nothing  discouraged,'  they  descended  into  the 
valley,  and  the  advanced  guard  shortly  came  in  contact 
with  the  enemy's  outposts.  Firing  between  them  went 
on  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then  night  fell. 

The  Yaudois  leaders  held  a  council  to  determine 
what  they  should  do ;  and  the  result  was,  that  an 
immediate  attack  was  resolved  upon,  in  three  bodies. 
The  principal  attack  was  made  on  the  bridge,  the  pas- 
sage of  which  was  defended  by  a  strong  body  of  French 
soldiers    under   the   command  of  Colonel  de  Larrey. 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  413 

Ou  tlie  advance  of  tlio  Yaudols  in  tlie  darkness,  they 
were  summoned  to  stand,  but  continued  to  advance, 
when  the  enemy  fired  a  volley  on  them,  killing  three 
men.  Then  the  Yaudois  brigade  rushed  to  the  bridge, 
but  seeing  a  strong  body  on  the  other  side  preparing 
to  fire  again,  Arnaud  called  upon  his  men  to  lie  down, 
and  the  volley  went  over  their  heads.  Then  Turrel, 
the  Yaudois  caj)tain,  calling  out  ''  Forward  !  the  bridge 
is  won  ! ''  the  Yaudois  jumped  to  their  feet  and  rushed 
on.  The  two  wings  at  the  same  time  concentrated 
their  fire  on  the  defenders,  who  broke  and  retired,  and 
the  bridge  was  won.  But  at  the  further  side,  where 
the  French  were  in  overpowering  numbers,  they  re- 
fused to  give  way,  and  poured  down  their  fire  on  their 
assailants.  The  Yaudois  boldly  pressed  on.  They 
burst  through  the  French  force,  cutting  it  in  two  ; 
and  fresh  men  pouring  over,  the  battle  was  soon  won. 
The  French  commander  was  especially  chagrined  at 
having  been  beaten  by  a  parcel  of  cowherds.  "Is  it 
possible,"  he  exclaimed,  "that  I  have  lost  both  the 
battle  and  my  honour?" 

The  rising  moon  showed  the  ground  strewed  with 
about  seven  hundred  dead ;  the  Yaudois  having  los^. 
only  twenty-two  killed  and  eight  wounded.  The  victors 
filled  their  pouches  with  ammunition  picked  up  on  the 
field,  took  possession  of  as  many  arms  and  as  much 
provisions  as  they  could  carry,  and  placing  the  re- 
mainder in  a  heap  over  some  barrels  of  powder, 
they  afiixed  a  lighted  match  and  withdrew.  A  tremen- 
dous explosion  shook  the  mountains,  and  echoed  along 
the  valley,  and  the  remains  of  the  French  camp  were 
blown  to  atoms.  The  Yaudois  then  proceeded  at  once 
to  climb  the  mountain  of  Sci,  which  had  to  be  crossed 
in  order  to  enter  the  valley  of  Pragelas. 


414       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

It  was  early  on  a  Sabbath,  morning,  tbe  nintb  day  of 
their  march,  that  the  Yaudois  reached  the  crest  of  the 
mountain  overlooking  Fenestrelles,  and  saw  spread  out 
before  them  the  beloved  country  which  they  had  come 
to  win.  They  halted  for  the  stragglers,  and  when 
these  had  come  up,  Arnaud  made  them  kneel  down 
and  thank  God  for  permitting  them  again  to  see  their 
native  land ;  himself  offering  up  an  eloquent  prayer, 
which  cheered  and  strengthened  them  for  further 
effort.  And  then  they  descended  into  the  valley  of 
Pragelas,  passing  the  river  Clusone,  and  halting  to 
rest  at  the  little  village  of  La  Traverse.  They  were 
now  close  to  the  Yaudois  strongholds,  and  in  a  country 
every  foot  of  whicli  was  familiar  to  most  of  them.  But 
their  danger  was  by  no  means  over  ;  for  the  vallej^'S 
were  swarming  with  dragoons  and  foot-soldiers ;  and 
when  they  had  shaken  off  those  of  France,  they  had 
still  to  encounter  the  troops  of  Savoy. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  little  army  again  set  out 
for  the  valley  of  St.  Martin,  passing  the  night  in  the 
mountain  hamlet  of  Jussand,  the  highest  on  the  Col 
du  Pis.  jN^ext  day  they  descended  the  Col  near  Seras, 
and  first  came  in  contact  with  the  troops  of  Savoy  ;  but 
these  having  taken  to  flight,  no  collision  occurred; 
and  on  the  following  day  the  Yaudois  arrived,  without 
further  molestation,  at  the  famous  Balsille. 

This  celebrated  stronghold  is  situated  in  front  of  the 
narrow  defile  of  Macel,  which  leads  into  the  valley  of 
St.  Martin.  It  is  a  rampart  of  rock,  standing  at  the 
entrance  to  the  pass,  and  is  of  such  natural  strength, 
that  but  little  art  was  needed  to  make  it  secure  against 
any  force  that  could  be  brought  against  it.  There  is 
only  one  approach  to  it  from  the  valley  of  St.  Martin, 
which  is  very  difficult ;  a  portion  of  the  way  beiug  in 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  415 

a  deep  wooded  gorge,  wliere  a  fe^y  men  could  easily 
arrest  tlie  progress  of  an  army.  The  rock  itself  con- 
sists of  three  natural  stages  or  terraces,  the  highest 
part  rising  steep  as  a  wall,  being  surmounted  by  a 
natural  platform.  The  mountain  was  well  supplied 
with  water,  which  gushed  forth  in  several  places. 
Caverns  had  been  hollowed  out  in  the  sides  of  the 
rocks,  which  served  as  hiding-places  during  the  per- 
secutions which  so  often  ravaged  the  valleys  ;  and  these 
were  now  available  for  storehouses  and  barracks. 

The  place  was,  indeed,  so  intimately  identified  with 
the  past  sufferings  and  triumj^hs  of  the  Yaudois,  and  it 
was,  besides,  so  centrally  situated,  and  so  secure,  that 
they  came  to  regard  its  possession  as  essential  to  the 
success  of  their  enterprise.  The  aged  Javanel,  who 
drew  up  the  plan  of  the  invasion  before  the  eight 
hundred  set  out  on  their  march,  attached  the  greatest 
importance  to  its  early  occupation.  "  Spare  no  labour 
nor  pains,"  he  said,  in  the  memorandum  of  directions 
which  he  drew  up,  *'  in  fortifying  this  post,  which  will 
be  your  most  secure  fortress.  Do  not  quit  it  unless  in 
the  utmost  extremit3^  .  .  .  You  will,  of  course,  be 
told  that  you  cannot  hold  it  always,  and  that  rather 
than  not  succeed  in  their  object,  all  France  and  Italy 
will  gather  together  against  you.  .  .  .  But  were 
it  the  whole  world,  and  only  yourselves  against  all, 
fear  ye  the  Almighty  alone,  who  is  your  protection." 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Yaudois  at  the  Ealsille,  they 
discerned  a  small  body  of  troops  advancing  towards 
them  by  the  Col  du  Pis,  higher  up  the  valley.  They 
proved  to  be  Piedmontese,  forty- six  in  number,  sent  to 
occupy  the  pass.  They  were  surrounded,  disarmed, 
and  put  to  death,  and  their  arms  were  hid  away 
amongst  the  rocks.     No  quarter  was  given  on  either 


41 6       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

side  during  tills  war ;  tlie  Yaiidois  had  no  prisons  in 
wbicTi  to  place  their  captives ;  and  they  themselves, 
when  taken,  were  treated  not  as  soldiers,  but  as  bandits, 
being  instantly  hung  on  the  nearest  trees.  The  Yaudois 
did  not,  however,  yet  take  up  their  permanent  position 
at  the  Balsille,  being  desirous  of  rousing  the  valleys 
towards  the  south.  The  day  following,  accordingly, 
they  marched  to  Pralis,  in  the  valley  of  the  Germanasca, 
when,  for  the  first  time  since  their  exile,  they  celebrated 
Divine  worship  in  one  of  the  temples  of  their  ancestors. 

They  were  now  on  their  way  towards  the  valley  of 
the  Pelice,  to  reach  which  it  was  necessary  that  they 
should  pass  over  the  Col  Julian.  An  army  of  three 
thousand  Piedmontese  barred  their  way,  but  nothing 
daunted  by  the  great  disparity  of  force,  the  Yaudois, 
divided  into  three  bodies,  as  at  Salabertrans,  mounted 
to  the  assault.  As  they  advanced,  the  Piedmontese 
cried,  *'  Come  on,  ye  devil's  Barbets,  there  are  more 
than  three  thousand  of  us,  and  we  occupy  all  the 
posts  !  "  In  less  than  half  an  hour  the  whole  of  the 
posts  were  carried,  the  pass  was  cleared,  and  the  Pied- 
montese fled  down  the  further  side  of  the  mountain, 
leaving  all  their  stores  behind  them.  On  the  following 
day  the  Yaudois  reached  Bobi,  drove  out  the  new 
settlers,  and  resumed  possession  of  the  lands  of  the 
commune.  Thus,  after  the  lapse  of  only  fourteen  days, 
this  little  band  of  heroes  had  marched  from  the  shores 
of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  by  difficult  mountain-passes, 
through  bands  of  hostile  troops,  which  the}''  had  defeated 
in  two  severe  fights,  and  at  length  reached  the  very 
centre  of  the  Yaudois  valleys,  and  entered  into  posses- 
' sion  of  the  "  Promised  Land." 

They    resolved   to    celebrate    their    return   to    the 
country  of  their  fathers  by  an  act  of  solemn  worship 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  417 

on  the  Sabbath,  following.  The  whole  body  assembled 
on  tlie  hill  of  Silaoud,  commanding  an  extensive 
prospect  of  the  valley,  and  with  their  arms  piled,  and 
resting  under  the  shade  of  the  chestnut-trees  which 
crown  the  hill,  they  listened  to  an  eloquent  sermon 
from  the  pastor  Montoux,  who  preached  to  them  stand- 
ing on  a  platform,  consisting  of  a  door  resting  upon 
two  rocks,  after  which  tho}^  chanted  the  74th  Psalm, 
to  the  clash  of  arms.  They  then  j)roceeded  to  enter 
into  a  solemn  covenant  with  each  other,  renewing  the 
ancient  oath  of  union  of  the  valleys,  and  swearing  never 
to  rest  from  their  enterprise,  even  if  they  should  be 
reduced  to  only  three  or  four  in  number,  until  they  had 
"  re-established  in  the  vallej-s  the  kingdom  of  the 
Gospel."  Shortly  after,  they  proceeded  to  divide 
themselves  into  two  bodies,  for  the  purpose  of  occujoy- 
ing  simultaneously,  as  recommended  by  Javanel,  the 
two  valleys  of  the  Police  and  St.  Martin. 

But  the  trials  and  sufferings  they  had  already 
endured  were  as  nothing  compared  with  those  they 
were  now  about  to  experience.  Armies  concentrated 
on  them  from  all  points.  They  were  pressed  by  the 
French  on  the  north  and  west,  and  bv  the  Piedmontese 
on  the  south  and  east.  Encouraged  by  their  success 
at  Bobi,  the  Yaudois  rashly  attacked  Yillar,  lower  down 
the  vallej'',  and  were  repulsed  with  loss.  From  thence 
they  retired  up  the  valley  of  Rora,  and  laid  it  waste  ; 
the  enemy,  in  like  manner,  destroying  the  town  of  Bobi 
and  laying  waste  the  neighbourhood. 

The  war  now  became  one  of  reprisals  and  mutual 
devastation,  the  two  parties  seeking  to  deprive  each 
other  of  shelter  and  the  means  of  subsistence.  The 
Yaudois  could  only  obtain  food  by  capturing  the 
enemy's  convoy's,  levying  contributions  from  the  plains. 


41 8       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

and  making  incursions  into  Banphiny.  The  enterprise 
on  which  they  had  entered  seemed  to  become  more 
hopeless  from  da}^  to  day.  This  handful  of  men,  half 
famished  and  clothed  in  rags,  had  no^Y  arrayed  against 
them  twenty- two  thousand  French  and  Sardinians, 
provided  with  all  the  munitions  of  war.  That  they 
should  have  been  able  to  stand  against  them  for  two 
whole  months,  now  fighting  in  one  place,  and  perhaps 
the  next  day  some  twenty  miles  across  the  mountains 
in  another,  with  almost  invariable  success,  seems  little 
short  of  a  miracle.  But  flesh  and  blood  could  not 
endure  such  toil  and  privations  much  longer.  No 
wonder  that  the  faint-hearted  began  to  despair. 
Turrel,  the  military  commander,  seeing  no  chance  of  a 
prosperous  issue,  withdrew  across  the  French  frontier, 
followed  by  the  greater  number  of  the  Yaudois  from 
Dauphiny  ;*  and  there  remained  only  the  Italian 
Yaudois,  still  unconquered  in  spirit,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  their  pastor-general  Arnaud,  who  never 
appeared  greater  than  in  times  of  difficulty  and 
danger. 

With  his  diminished  forces,  and  the  increasing 
numbers  of  the  enemy,  Arnaud  found  it  impossible  to 
hold  both  the  valleys,  as  intended  ;  besides,  winter  was 
approaching,  and  the  men  must  think  of  shelter  and 
provisions  during  that  season,  if  resistance  was  to  be 
prolonged.  It  was  accordingly  determined  to  concen- 
trate their  little  force  upon  the  Balsille,  and  all  haste 
was  made  to  reach  that  stronghold  without  further 
delay.  Their  laiowledge  of  the  mountain  heights  and 
passes  enabled  them  to  evade  their  enemies,  who  were 
watching  for  them  along  the  valleys,  and  they  j)assed 

*  The  greater  number  of  them,  including  Turrel,  were  taken 
prisoners  and  shot,  or  sent  to  the  galleys,  where  they  died.  This  last 
was  the  fate  of  Turrel. 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  419 

from  tlie  heights  of  Kodoret  to  the  sumyait  of  the 
Balsille  by  night,  before  it  was  known  that  they  were 
in  the  neighbourhood.  They  immediately  set  to  work 
to  throw  up  entrenchments  and  erect  barricades,  so  as 
to  render  the  place  as  secure  as  possible.  Foraging 
parties  were  sent  out  for  provisions,  to  lay  in  for  the 
winter,  and  they  returned  laden  with  corn  from  the 
valley  of  Pragelas.  At  the  little  hamlet  of  Balsille 
they  repaired  the  mill,  and  set  it  a-going,  the  rivulet 
which  flowed  down  from  the  mountain  supplying 
abundance  of  water-power. 

It  was  at  the  end  of  October  that  the  little  band  of 
heroes  took  possession  of  the  Balsille,  and  they  held  it 
firmly  all  through  the  winter.  For  more  than  six 
months  they  beat  back  every  force  that  was  sent  against 
them.  The  first  attack  was  made  by  the  Marquis 
d'Ombrailles  at  the  head  of  a  French  detachment ;  but 
though  the  enemy  reached  the  village  of  Balsille,  they 
were  compelled  to  retire,  partly  by  the  bullets  of  the 
defenders,  and  partly  by  the  snow,  which  was  falling 
heavily.  The  Marquis  de  Parelles  next  advanced,  and 
summoned  the  Yaudois  to  surrender ;  but  in  vain. 
''  Our  storms  are  still  louder  than  your  cannon," 
replied  Arnaud,  •'*  and  yet  our  rocks  are  not  shaken." 
Winter  having  set  in,  the  besiegers  refrained  for  a  time 
from  further  attacks,  but  strictly  guarded  all  the  passes 
leading  to  the  fortress ;  while  the  garrison,  availing 
themselves  of  their  knowledge  of  the  locality'',  made 
frequent  sorties  into  the  adjoining  valleys,  as  well  as 
into  those  of  Dauphiny,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
provisions,  in  which  they  were  usually  successful. 

When  the  fine  weather  arrived,  suitable  for  a 
mountain  campaign,  the  French  general,  Catinat, 
assembled  a  strong  force,  and  marched  into  the  valley, 

28 


420       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

determined  to  make  short  work  of  this  little  nest  of 
bandits  on  the  Balsille.  On  Sunday  morning,  the  30th 
of  April,  1690,  while  Arnaud  was  preaching  to  his 
flock,  the  sentinels  on  the  look-out  discovered  the 
enemy's  forces  swarming  up  the  valley.  Soon  other 
bodies  were  seen  approaching  by  the  Col  du  Pis  and 
the  Col  du  Clapier,  while  a  French  regiment,  supported 
by  the  Savoyard  militia,  climbed  Mont  Guinevert,  and 
cut  off  all  retreat  in  that  quarter.  In  short,  the  Balsille 
was  completely  invested. 

A  general  assault  was  made  on  the  position  on  the 
2nd  of  May,  under  the  direction  of  General  Catinat  in 
person.  Three  French  regiments,  supported  by  a 
regiment  of  dragoons,  opened  the  attack  in  front ; 
Colonel  de  Parat,  who  commanded  the  leading  regi- 
ment, saying  to  his  soldiers  as  they  advanced,  "  My 
friends,  we  must  sleep  to-night  in  that  barrack," 
pointing  to  the  rude  Yaudois  fort  on  the  summit  of  the 
Balsille.  They  advanced  with  great  bravery  ;  but  the 
barricade  could  not  be  surmounted,  while  they  were 
assailed  by  a  perfect  storm  of  bullets  from  the  defenders, 
securely  posted  above. 

Catinat  next  ordered  the  troops  stationed  on  the 
Guinevert  to  advance  from  that  direction,  so  as  to  carry 
the  position  from  behind.  But  the  assailants  found  un- 
expected intrenchments  in  their  way,  from  behind 
which  the  Yaudois  maintained  a  heavy  fire,  that 
eventually  drove  them  back,  their  retreat  being  acce- 
lerated by  a  shower  of  stones  and  a  blinding  fall  of 
snow  and  hail.  In  the  meantime,  the  attack  on  the 
bastion  in  front  continued,  and  the  Yaudois,  seeing 
the  French  troops  falling  back  in  disorder,  made  a 
vigorous  sortie,  and  destroy" ed  the  whole  remaining 
force,  excepting  fifteen  men,  who  fled,  bare-headed  and 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  421 

without  arms,  and  carried  to  tlie  camp  tlie  news  of 
their  total  defeat. 

A  Savoyard  officer  thus  briefly  described  the  issue  of 
the  disastrous  affair  in  a  letter  to  a  friend :  "I  have 
only  time  to  tell  you  that  the  French  have  failed  in 
their  attack  on  the  Balsille,  and  they  have  been 
obliged  to  retire  after  having  lost  one  hundred  and 
fifty  soldiers,  three  captains,  besides  subalterns  and 
wounded,  including  a  colonel  and  a  lieutenant-colonel 
who  have  been  made  prisoners,  with  the  two  sergeants 
who  remained  behind  to  help  them.  The  lieutenant- 
colonel  was  surprised  at  finding  in  the  fort  some  nine- 
teen or  twenty  officers  in  gold  and  silver  lace,  who 
treated  him  as  a  prisoner  of  w^ar  and  very  humanely, 
even  allowing  him  to  go  in  search  of  the  surgeon- 
major  of  his  regiment  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
him  into  the  place,  and  doing  all  that  was  necessar3^" 

Catinat  did  not  choose  again  to  renew  the  attack  in 
person,  or  to  endanger  his  reputation  by  a  further 
defeat  at  the  hands  of  men  whom  he  had  described  as 
a  nest  of  paltry  bandits,  but  entrusted  the  direction  of 
further  operations  to  the  Marquis  de  Feuquieres,  who 
had  his  laurels  still  to  win,  while  Catinat  had  his  to 
lose.  The  Balsille  was  again  completely  invested  by 
the  12th  of  Ma}^  according  to  the  scheme  of  operations 
prepared  by  Catinat,  and  the  Marquis  received  by 
anticipation  the  title  of  "  Conqueror  of  the  Barbels.'^ 
The  entire  mountain  was  surrounded,  all  the  passes 
were  strongly  guarded,  guns  were  planted  in  positions 
which  commanded  the  Yaudois  fort,  more  particularly 
on  the  Guinevert ;  and  the  capture  or  extermination  of 
the  Yaudois  was  now  regarded  as  a  matter  of  certainty. 
The  attacking  army  was  divided  into  five  corps.  Each 
Soldier    was  accompanied    by    a   pioneer    carrying   a 


42  2       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

fascine,  in  order  to  form  a  cover  against  tlie  Yaudois 
bullets  as  they  advanced. 

Several  days  elapsed  before  all  tbe  preliminaries  for 
tbe  grand  attack  were  completed,  and  then  the  Marquis 
ordered  a  white  flag  to  ba  hoisted,  and  a  messenger  was 
sent  forward,  inviting  a  parley  with  the  defenders  of 
the  Balsille.  The  envoy  was  asked  what  he  wanted. 
"  Your  immediate  surrender  ! "  was  the  reply.  ''You 
shall  each  of  you  receive  five  hundred  louis  d'or,  and 
good  passports  for  your  retirement  to  a  foreign  countr}^ ; 
but  if  you  resist,  you  will  be  infallibly  destroyed." 
*' That  is  as  the  Lord  shall  will,"  replied  the  Yaudois 
messenger. 

The  defenders  refused  to  capitulate  on  any  terms. 
The  Marquis  himself  then  wrote  to  the  Yaudois,  offer- 
ing them  terms  on  the  above- basis,  but  threatening,  in 
case  of  refusal,  that  every  man  of  them  would  be  hung. 
Arnaud's  reply  was  heroic.  "  AYc  are  not  subjects,'' 
he  said,  "  of  the  King  of  France  ;  and  that  monarch 
not  being  master  of  this  countr}^,  we  can  enter  into  no 
treaty  with  his  servants.  We  are  in  the  heritage 
which  our  fathers  have  left  to  us,  and  we  hope,  with 
the  help  of  the  God  of  armies,  to  live  and  die  in  it, 
even  though  there  may  remain  only  ten  of  us  to 
defend  it."  That  same,  night  the  Yaudois  made  a 
vigorous  sortie,,  and  killed  a  number  of  the  besiegers  : 
this  was  their  final  answer  to  the  summons  to  sur- 
render. 

On  the  14th  of  May  the  battery  on  Mont  Guinevert 
was  opened,  and  the  enemy's  cannon  began  to  play 
upon  the  little  fort  and  bastions,  which,  being  only  of 
dry  stones,  were  soon  dismantled.  The  assault  was 
then  made  simultaneously  on  three  sides ;  and  after  a 
stout  resistance,  the  Yaudois  retired  from  their  lower 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  423 

intrencliments,  and  retreated  to  tliosc  on  tlie  hlglier 
ledges  of  the  mountain.  They  continued  their  resist- 
ance until  night,  and  then,  taking  counsel  together, 
and  feeling  that  the  place  was  no  longer  defensible  in 
the  face  of  so  overpowering  a  force,  commanded,  as  it 
was,  at  the  same  time  by  the  cannon  on  the  adjoining 
heights,  they  determined  to  evacuate  the  Balsille,  after 
holding  it  for  a  period  of  nearly  seven  months. 

A  thick  mist  having  risen  up  from  the  valley,  the 
Vaudois  set  out,  late  at  night,  under  the  guidance  of 
Captain  Poulat,  a  native  of  the  district,  who  well  knew 
the  paths  in  the  mountains.  They  climbed  up  on  to 
the  heights  above,  over  icy  slopes,  passing  across  gaping 
crevices  and  along  almost  perpendicular  rocks,  admit- 
ting of  their  passage  only  in  single  file,  sometimes 
dragging  themselves  along  on  their  bellies,  clinging  to 
the  rocks  or  to  the  tufts  of  grass,  occasionally  resting 
and  praying,  but  never  despairing.  At  length  they 
succeeded,  after  a  long  detour  of  the  mountain  crests, 
in  gaining  the  northern  slope  of  Guinevert.  Here  they 
came  upon  and  surprised  the  enemy's  outpost,  which 
fled  towards  the  main  body ;  and  the  Vaudois  passed 
on,  panting  and  half  dead  with  fatigue.  When  the 
morning  broke,  and  the  French  proceeded  to  penetrate 
the  last  redoubt  on  the  Balsille,  lo,  it  was  empty  !  The 
defenders  had  abandoned  it,  and  they  could  scarcely 
believe  their  eyes  when  they  saw  the  dangerous  moun- 
tain escarpment  by  which  they  had  escaped  in  the  night. 
Looking  across  the  valley,  far  off,  they  saw  the  fugitives, 
thrown  into  relief  by  the  snow  amidst  which  they 
marched,  like  a  line  of  ants,  apparently  making  for  the 
mass  of  the  central  Alps. 

For  three  days  they  wandered  from  place  to  place, 
gradually  moving  southwards,  their  object  now  being 


424       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE   VAUDOIS. 

to  take  up  their  position  at  the  Pra  clu  Tour,  the 
ancient  fortress  of  the  Barhas  in  the  valley  of  Angrogna. 
Before,  however,  they  could  reach  this  stronghold,  and 
while  they  were  still  at  Pramol  in  the  valley  of  Perosa, 
news  of  the  most  unexpected  kind  reached  them,  which 
opened  up  the  prospect  of  their  deliverance.  The  news 
was  no  other  than  this — Savoy  had  declared  war  against 
France  ! 

A  rupture  between  the  two  powers  had  for  some 
time  been  imminent.  Louis  XIY.  had  become  more 
and  more  exacting  in  his  demands  on  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  until  the  latter  felt  himself  in  a  position  of 
oppressive  vassalage.  Louis  had  even  intimated  his 
intention  of  occupying  Yerrua  and  the  citadel  of  Turin  ; 
and  the  Duke,  having  previous^  ascertained  through 
his  cousin,  Prince  Eugene,  the  willingness  of  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  pressed  by  William  of  Orange, 
to  assist  him  in  opposing  the  pretensions  of  France,  he  at 
length  took  up  liis  stand  and  declared  war  against  Louis. 

The  Vaudois  were  now  a  power  in  the  state,  and 
both  parties  alike  appealed  to  them  for  help,  promising 
them  great  favours.  But  the  Yaudois,  notwithstanding 
the  treachery  and  cruelty  of  successive  Dukes  of  Savoy, 
were  true  to  their  native  prince.  They  pledged  them- 
selves to  hold  the  valleys  and  defend  the  mountain 
passes  against  France. 

In  the  first  engagements  which  took  place  between 
the  French  and  the  Piedmontese,  the  latter  were  over- 
powered, and  the  Duke  became  a  fugitive.  Where  did 
he  find  refuge  ?  In  the  valleys  of  the  Yaudois,  in  a 
secluded  spot  in  the  village  of  Bora,  behind  the 
Pelice,  he  found  a  safe  asylum  amidst  the  people 
whose  fathers  he  had  hunted,  proscribed,  and  con- 
demned to  death. 


THE  GLORIOUS  RETURN.  425 

But  tlie  tide  of  war  turned,  and  the  French,  were 
eventually  driven  out  of  Piedmont.  Many  of  the 
Vaudois,  who  had  settled  in  Brandenburg,  Holland,  and 
Switzerland,  returned  and  settled  in  the  valleys  ;  and 
though  the  Dukes  of  Savoy,  with  their  accustomed 
treachery,  more  than  once  allowed  persecution  to  recom- 
mence, their  descendants  continue  to  enjoy  the  land, 
and  to  worship  after  the  manner  of  their  fathers  down 
to  the  present  day. 

The  Yaudois  long  laboured  under  disabilities,  and 
continued  to  be  deprived  of  manj-  social  and  civil  rights. 
But  they  patiently  bided  their  time ;  and  the  time  at 
length  arrived.  In  1848  their  emancipation  was  one 
of  the  great  questions  of  North  Italy.  It  was  taken 
up  and  advocated  by  the  most  advanced  minds  of 
Piedmont.  The  petition  to  Charles  Albert  in  their 
favour  was  in  a  few  days  covered  with  the  names  of  its 
greatest  patriots,  including  those  of  Balbo,  Cavour,  and 
D'Azeglio.  Their  emancipation  was  at  length  granted, 
and  the  Yaudois  now  enjoy  the  same  rights  and  liberties 
as  the  other  subjects  of  Yictor  Emanuel. 

ISTor  is  the  Yaudois  Church  any  longer  confined  to 
the  valleys,  but  it  has  become  extended  of  late  years 
all  over  Italy — to  Milan,  Florence,  Brescia,  Yerona, 
Genoa,  Leghorn,  Naples,  Palermo,  Cataneo,  Yenice, 
and  even  to  Eome  itself.  In  most  of  these  places  there 
are  day-schools  and  Sunday-schools,  besides  churches. 
The  new  church  at  Yenice,  held  in  the  Cavagnis  palace, 
seems  to  have  proved  especially  successful,  the  Sunday 
services  being  regularly  attended  by  from  three  to  four 
hundred  persons ;  while  the  day-schools  in  connection 
with  the  churches  at  Turin,  Leghorn,  Naples,  and 
Cataneo  have  proved  very  successful. 

Thus,   in   the   course   of  a   few  years,   thirty-three 


426       THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  VAUDOIS. 

Yaudois  churclies  and  stations,  with,  about  an  equal 
number  of  scbools,  have  been  establislied  in  various 
parts  of  Italy.  The  missionaries  report  tbat  the 
greatest  difficulties  tbey  liave  to  encounter  arise  from 
the  incredulity  and  indiiference  which,  are  the  natural 
heritage  of  the  Romisli  Church  ;  but  that,  nevertheless, 
the  work  makes  satisfactory  progress — the  good  seed 
is  being  planted,  and  will  yet  bring  forth  its  increase 
in  God's  due  time. 

Finally,  it  cannot  but  be  acknowledged  that  the 
people  of  the  valleys,  in  so  tenaciously  and  conscien- 
tiously adhering  to  their  faith,  through  good  and 
through  evil,  during  so  many  hundred  years,  have  set 
a  glorious  example  to  Piedmont,  and  have  possibly  been 
in  no  small  deorree  instrumental  in  establishinji:  the 
reign  of  right  and  of  liberty  in  Italy. 


INDEX. 


AiGUEMouTES,  Huguenot  prison 
at,  193,  273 

Albigenses,  75 

Anabaptists  of  Munster,  282-3 

Anduze,  visit  to,  125 

Angrogna,  valley  of,  385  ;  fight- 
ing in,  885-90,  402 

Arnaud,  Henry,  215,  406  ;  leads 
back  the  Vaudois,  407  - 19  ; 
defends  the  Balsille,  419-23 

Balsille,  the,  414  ;  defence  of, 
419-423;  given  up,  423 

Baridon,  Etienne,  346-7 

Baville,  on  the  Protestants  of 
Languedoc,  77,  86 ;  occupies 
th&  Covennes,  87  ;  at  Poiit-de- 
Montvert,  92 

Beauveau,  Prince  de,  273-4 

Beckwith,  General,  382 

Bibles,  'destruction  and  scarcity 
of,  215-6 

Bonnafoux,  repulsed  by  Camisards, 
142 

Book-burning,  215,  225-6 

Bourg  d'Oisans,  313-4 

BrianQon,  318-20 

Broglie,  Count,  143-4,  148;  su- 
perseded, 149 

Brousson,  Claude,  30  ;  adv^ocate 
for  Protestant  church  at  Nismes, 
31 ;  meeting  in  house  of,  34  ; 
petition  by,  35 ;  escape  from 
Nismes,  42 ;  at  Lausanne,  43, 
46;  at  Berlin,  44  ;  in  the  Ceven- 
nes,  50-2,  54 ;  reward  offered 
for,  56  ;  at  Nismes,  57  ;  preach- 
ing of,  58-9 ;  to  Lausanne, 
England  and  Holland,  61-2  ;  at 


Sedan,  64 ;  through  Prance, 
66-7 ;  portraiture  of,  68  (note) ; 
to  Nismes  again,  69 ;  taken, 
tried,  and  executed,  70-3 

Brueys,  on  fanaticism  in  Lan- 
guedoc, 91 

Bull  of  Clement  XI.  against 
Camisards,  160 

Galas,  Jean,  257 ;  executed,  258  ; 
case  taken  up  by  Voltaire,  259- 
62 ;  reversal  of  judgment  on, 
262-3 

Calvinism  and  race,  100  (note) 

Calvmists,  French  and  Scotch, 
compared,  100 

Camisards,  the,  origin  of  name, 
107 ;  led  by  Laporte,  109 ; 
organization  of,  112-13;  en- 
counter troops,  113,  111,  117; 
war- song  of,  Ho  ;  organized  by 
Eoland,  123-4;  successes  of, 
134-40,  142  ;  spread  of  insurrec- 
tion of,  1 38-9 ;  measures  against 
139,  146-7;  successes  of,  146- 
150  ;  defeat  of,  at  Vagnas,  150 : 
defeat  of,  near  Pompignan,  152 , 
success  of,  at  Martinargues,  162- 
4  ;  bull  against,  160  ;  success  at 
Salindres,  164-5  ;  defeated  near 
Nismes,  163-9 ;  reverses  of, 
170-1  ;  success  at  Font-morte, 
176-7 ;  defeated  at  Pont-de- 
Montvert,  and  end  of  insurreC' 
tion,  187-9 

Camisards,  White.  160-1 

Castanet,  Andre,  111,  113,  113, 
123,  189 

Cavalier,  John,  joins  insurgents, 


428 


INDEX, 


108,  111;  family  of,  121;  to 
Genera,  121 ;  to  the  Cevennes, 
122  ;  portrait  of,  124  ;  in  Lower 
Languedoc,  133  ;  defeats 
Royalists,  134,  135  ;  takes 
Chateau  Servas,  136-7 ;  repulses 
Bonnafoux,  142 ;  at  Kismes, 
144-5  ;  successes  of,  148  ;  winter 
campaign,  148-9  ;  at  Yagnas, 
150-1,  153  ;  betrayed  at  Tower 
ofBelliott,  156-8;  at  Martin- 
argues,  162-4;  at  Rosni,  169; 
his  cave  magazines,  170-1  ;  his 
interview  with  Lalande,  173- 
6;  attempts  peace,  177;  his 
interviews  with  Villars,  177- 
183  ;  deserted  by  followers,  183- 
5  ;  to  England,  and  subsequent 
career,  186 

Caves,  in  the  Cevennes,  125,  127- 
9;  at  Li  Tour,  381 

C(  vennes,  the,  persecutions  in, 39, 
52-3,  85 ;  secret  meetings  in, 
54,  84-8 ;  executions  in,  59, 
67-8 ;  des  ription  of,79-82 ;  arm- 
ing of  the  people,  85-6 ;  occupied 
by  troops,  88  ;  prophetic  mania 
in,  88  ;  encounter  at  Pont-de- 
Montvert,  92  ;  outbreak  against 
Du  Chayla,  96-7  ;  map  of,  98  ; 
Protestants  of,  compared  with 
Covenanters,  100-1 ;  organiza- 
tion in,  123-5;  caves  in,  125, 
127-9;  visit  to,  125-9;  pre- 
sent inhabitants  of,  129,  131- 
2  ;  devastation  of,  154-5 

Champ  Domergue,  battle  at,  114 

Chateau  Que v res,  371 

Chayla,  Da,  93,  94,  97 

Chaumont,  271 

Chenevix,  15  (note) 

Choiseul,  Due  de,  268 

Claris,  237 

Colognac,  execution  of,  59 

Comiers,  311 

Conderc,  Salomon,  119,  123 

Converts,  19-23  ;  38-9 

Court  profligacy,  275  (note) 

Court,  Antoine,  206-17  ;  organizes 
school  for  preachers,  224 ; 
marriage  of,  231  ;  retires  to 
Switzerland,  232  ;  results  of  his 
work,  283-4  ;  in  Languedoc,  239 


Covenanters,  compared  with  Pro- 
testants of  the  Cevennes,  100-2 
Cromwell,  295-6,  380 

D'Aguesseau's  opinion  of  Pro- 
testants of  Languedoc,  76-7 

Dauphiny,  map  of,  286  ;  aspect  of, 
287-8 

Desert,  assemblies  in  the,  83-8  ; 
218-23 

Dormilhoxase,  342,  347-58 

Dortial,  238 

Dumas,  death  of,  52 

Durand,  Pierre,  236 

Dragonnades,  36-7,  42,  54-5 

Easter  ISIassacre  of  the  Vaudois, 

294-6 
England   attempts  to   assist   the 

Camisards,  160-7 
Execution  of  Pastors,  27 

Fabre,  Jean,  265 ;  sent  to  galleys, 
266-9  ;  obtains  leave  of  absence, 
269 ;  exonerated,  270 ;  life 
dramatized,  and  result,  270 

Fermaud,  Pastor,  311 

Freemantle,  Pev.  Mr.,  visits  of, 
to  the  Vaudois,  299,  354,  366 

French  labouring  classes,  present 
condition  of,  301-4 

Freney,  gorge  of,  315 

Galley,  description  of,  197-8;  use 

in  war,  200-4 
Galley-slaves,  treatment  of,  194- 

204  ;  liberation  of  Protestants, 

204,  264  (note),  271-3 
Gillv,  Dr.,  visit  to  the  Yaudois, 

297-8,  372,  381 
Glorious  Keturn  of  the  Yaudois, 

397-9 
Guerin,  death  of,  67 
Guignon  betrays  Cavalier,   156  ; 

executed,  159 
Guil,  vallev  of  the,  370 
Guillestre,'360-70 
Guion,  executed,  57 

HoMEL,  tortures  and  death  of,  40. 

Huguenots,  the  (see  Cami- 
sards) ;  emigrations  of,  43,  76- 
8  ;    83 ;    persecution   of,    after 


INDEX. 


429 


Camisard  insurrection,  190- 
204  ;  as  galley-slaves,  19i-204; 
brought  together  by  Court,  210- 
17  ;  reorganization  of,  218-228  ; 
outrages  on,  228  ;  great  assem- 
blies of,  239-40;  last  of  the 
executions,  258 ;  last  of  the 
galley-slaves,  265-273  ;  charac- 
ter of,  274-5  ;  later  history  of, 
276-283 

Irish  Brigade,  140-142 
Iron  Boot,  the,  102 

JoAXY,       XiCHOLAS,      insurgent 

leader,  120,  123,  151 
Johannot,  269 
Julien,  Brigadier,  147,  150-1 

Lagier,  Jean,  356,  357  (note) 

Lajonquiere,  defeated  at  Martin- 
argues,  162-4 

Lalande,  his  interview  with  Cava- 
lier, 173-6 

Languedoc  (see  Ceveinies\  early 
liberty  in,  75  ;  Albigenses  in, 
75  ;  Protestants  of,  76-7  ;  indus- 
try of,  76 ;  emigration  from, 
after  Revocation,  78  ;  arming  of 
people  of,  85-6 ;  outbreak  of 
fanaticism  in,  88-92 ;  present 
inhabitants  of,  280-3 

Laporte,  leader  of  Camisards,  109- 
10;  organizes  insurgents,  112; 
at  Collet,  113;  at  Champ  Do- 
mergue,  114  ;  killed  at  Molezou, 
117 

LaSalette,  308;  miracle  of,  309-10 

La  Tour,  380-4 

Laugier  at  Guillestre,  367 ;  at 
Chateau  Queyras,  368 

Lausanne,  school  for  preachers 
at,  224  ;  Society  of  Help  at, 
224-5 

Lauteret,  Col  de,  317 

Lesdiguieres,  Due  de,  306-7,  359 

Lintarde,  Marie,  impriscnment 
of,  54 

Locke,  John,  on  Protest &nt3  of 
Kismes,  31  (note) 

Louis  XIV.,  2,  10,  146,  205 

Louis  XV.,  275 

Louis  XVL,  276 


Marion,  on  influence  of  Camisard 

prophets,  119 
Marteilhe,  autobiography  of,  195 

201-4 
Martinargues,  battle  at,  162-4 
Massillon  on  Louis  XIV.,  10 
Mazel,  Abraham,  120,  123 
Mialet,  visit  to,  127-8 
Milsom,  Edward,  299,  355,  394-6 
Montpellier,  Protestant  Church  at, 
32-3  ;  the  Peyrou  at,  72 ;  exe- 
cution of  Brousson  at,  73 
Montreval,  Mai-shal,  in  Langue- 
doc, 149;  at  Pompignan,  152; 
adopts      extermination,     153  ; 
at    Tower     of     Belliot,      156 
-  8  ;    character    of,    159 ;    re- 
called,  167 ;    defeats  Cavalier, 
168-9 

Nantes,  Eevocation  of  Edict  of, 
and  its  results,  1-19,  24,  44-5, 
78 ;  contempoi'arj'  opinion  upon, 
1-10 ;  enactments  of  Edict  of 
Revocation,  12-15 

Neff,  Felix,  298,  308  ;  life  of,  331- 
336  ;  his  account  of  winter  at 
Dormilhouse,  351 ;  his  charge, 
373 

Xers,  visit  to,  131 

Nismes,  Protestant  Church  at,  31 ; 
petition  from,  41  ;  Brousson  at, 
57,  69 ;  Guion  at,  57  ;  country 
about,  81,  130-2;  success  of 
Camisards  near,  143  ;  Cavalier 
at,  144-5,  177-83;  treaty  of, 
179-80  ;  Huguenot  meetings  at, 
265 

Paloxs,  337-40 

Paulet,  Mdlle.,  forgeries  in  name 
of,  32-4 

Pelice,  Valley  of  the,  376 

Pont-de-Montvert,  outbreak  at, 
92-7;  description  of,  93-4;  end 
of  Camisard  insurrection  at, 
187-9 

Poul,  Captain,  in  Upper  Cevennes, 
108  ;  at  Champ  Domergue,  114- 
16;  takes  Laporte  at  Molezon, 
117  ;  defeated  and  killed  near 
Xismes,  143-4 

Pra  du  Tour,  390-4  ;  403 


430 


INDEX. 


Preachers,  education  of,   221-4  ; 

hardships  of,  225-9,  236-8 
Project,  the,  34 
Protestantism  in  France,  present 

chances  of,  321 

QuoiTE,  execution  of,  53 

Eavanel,  insurgent  leader,  defeats 
Royalists  near  Kismes,  143 ; 
near  Bouquet,  145  ;  supplants 
Cavalier,  183-5  ;  death  of,  189 

Redothiere,  Isabeau,  53 

Rey,  Fulcran,  his  preaching  and 
death,  25-7 

Rochemalan,  Yaudois  struggles 
at,  386-90 

Roger,  Jacques,  213 

Roland,  nephew  of  Laporte,  111 ; 
insurgent  leader,  113;  succeeds 
Laporte,  118;  in  Lower  Ce- 
vennes,  122 ;  organizes  Cami- 
sards,  123-5  ;  takes  fSauve,  137; 
atPompignan,152;  atSalindres, 
164-5;  at  Fonte-morte,  176-7  ; 
at  Pont  -de -  Montvert,  187  ; 
death  of,  188 

Romanche,  Valley  of  the,  305,312 

Rostan,  Alpine  missionary,  364 
(note) 

Roussel,  Alexandre,  232 

St.  Bartholomew,  doubt  thrown 
upon  massacre  of,  27 

Saint-Etienne,  Rabout,  276-7 

St.  Hypolite,  meeting  at,  35 

Saint-Kuth,  Marshal,  38  ;  in  Ire- 
land, 38  (note) 

Saint-Simon  on  the  treatment  of 
converts,  23 

San  Veran,  372 

Savoy  and  France,  war  declared, 
424 

Savoy,  Duke  of,  takes  refuge  with 
the  Vaudois,  424 

Sedan,  prosperity  of,  before  Re- 
vocation, 64-5 ;  Brousson  at,  65-6 

Seguier,  Pierre,  insurgent  leader, 
96,  103  ;  at  Frugeres,  104 ;  at 
Font-Morte,  106;  taken,  tried 
and  executed,  106-7 

Sirven,  263  ;  case  of,  taken  up  by 
Voltaire,  264 


Society  of  Friends  in  Languedoc, 

281-2 
Souverain  executed,  52 
Squeezers,  the,  101  (note) 
Synod     of     French     Protestant 

Church,  283 

Telford,  anecdote  cf,  82 
Toleration,  Edict  of,  276 

Val  Fressinieres,  327-9,  336-47 
Val  Louise,  324  ;  massacre  at,  326 
Vaudois,   the    country    of,   289  ; 
early   Christianity   of,  289-90; 
early    persecutions     of,     292; 
Easter  massacre  of,  294-5 ;  visits 
of  Dr.  Gilly  to,  297-8,  372,  381 ; 
passiveness  of,  324-5  ;  massacre 
of,  at  Val  Louise,  326  ;  persecu- 
tions of,  328-30,  359,  385,  399- 
404,   417-424  ;  refuges  of,  363, 
371,  379,  381,  385;  struggles  of, 
at  Rochemalan,  386-90;  flight 
at  the    Revocation,    399 ;    ap- 
parently exterminated,  404  ;  in 
Switzei-Iand,   405 ;    prepare   to 
return,  406;   A rnaud  appointed 
leader,  406;  assisted  by  William 
of  Orange,  407  ;  The  Glorious 
Return  of,  408-417 ;  struggles  of, 
at  the  Balsille,  419  ;  assist  Duke 
of  Savoy,  424 ;  emancipation  of, 
425-6 
Vesson,  212,  214 
Vidal,  Isaac,  preacher,  48 
Villars,    Marshal,    on    prophetic 
mania  in  Languedoc,  90 ;  ap- 
pointed to  command  in  Langue- 
doc,   167  ;     at    Nismes,    169  : 
clemency  of,  172,   186:   treats 
•with    Cavalier,    177-185 ;    sup- 
presses insurrection    of   Cami- 
eards,  188 
Vincent,  Isabel,  prophetess,  89,  90 
Vivens,  death  of,  56 
Voltaire,  takes  up  case  of  Calas, 
259-63  ;  takes  up  case  of  Sirveu, 
264;  case  of  Chaumont,  271 

Waldenses,  the,  288 
Wheel,   punishment  of   the,  258 
(note) 


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LOSSING'S  FIELD-BOOK  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  Pictorial  Field-Book 
of  the  Revolution  ;  or,  Illustrations,  by  Pen  and  Pencil,  of  the  History, 
Biography,  Scenery,  Relics,  and  Traditions  of  the  War  for  Independ- 
ence. By  Benson  J.  Lobsing.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $14  00 ;  Sheep,  $15  00 ; 
Half  Calf,  $1S  00 ;  Full  Turkey  Morocco,  $22  00. 

LOSSING'S  FIELD-BOOK  OF  THE  WAR  OF  1S12.  Pictorial  Field-Book 
of  the  War  of  lvS12  ;  or,  Illustrations,  by  Pen  and  Pencil,  of  the  Historv, 
Biograph}',  Scenery,  Relics,  aud  Traditions  of  the  Last  War  for  Ameri- 
can Independence.  By  Benson  J.  Losbing.  With  several  hundred  En- 
gravinirs  on  Wood,  by  Lossing  and  Barritt,  chieflv  from  Original  Sketch- 
es by  the  Author.  10S8  pages,  Svo,  Cloth,  $7  00;  Sheep,  $3  50:  Half 
Calf,  $10  00. 

ALFORD'S  GREEK  TESTAMENT.  The  Greek  Testament :  with  a  crit- 
ically revised  Text ;  a  Digest  of  Various  Readings ;  Marginal  References 
to  Verbal  and  Idiomatic  Usage;  Prolegomena  ;'and  a  Critical  and  Exe- 
getical  Commentary.  Yov  the  Use  of  Theological  Students  and  Minis- 
ters. By  Hknky  Ar.FOKP,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Canterbury.  Vol.  I.,  contain- 
ing the  Four  Gospels.    944  pages,  Svo,  Cloth,  $G  00;  Sheep,  $6  50. 

ABBOTT'S  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  The  History  of  Frederick  the 
Second,  called  P'rederick  the  Great.  By  Joun  S.  C.  Abbott.  Elegantly 
Illustrated.    Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

ABBOTT'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  The  French 
Revolution  of  17S9,  as  viewed  in  the  Liirht  of  Republican  Institutions. 
By  JouN  S.  C.  Abbott.     With  100  Engravings.     Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

ABBOTT'S  NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE.  The  History  of  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte.  Bv  Joun  S.  C.  Abhott.  With  Maps,  Woodcuts,  and  Portraits  on 
Steel.    2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $10  00. 

ABBOTT'S  NAPOLEON  AT  ST.  HELENA ;  or,  Interesting  Anecdotes  and 
Remarkable  Conversations  of  the  Emperor  during  the  Five  and  a  Half 
Years  of  his  Captivity.  Collected  from  the  Memorials  of  Las  Casas, 
O'Meara,  Montholon,  Autommarchi.  and  others.  By  Joun  S.  C.  Abbott. 
With  Illustrations.     Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

ADDISON'S  CO:siPLETE  WORKS.  The  Works  of  Joseph  Addison,  em- 
bracing the  whole  of  the  "Spectator."  Complete  iu  3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth, 
$6  00.  >        I  > 


4  Harper  ^  Brothers'  Valuable  and  Interesting  Works. 

ALCOCK'S  JAPAN.  The  Capital  of  the  Tycoon :  a  Narrative  of  a  Three 
Years'  Resideuce  in  Japan.  By  Sir  RDrnEKFOuD  Ai.cock,  K.C.B.,  Her 
Majesty's  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Mini(^ter  Plenipotentiary  in  Japan. 
With  Maps  and  Engravings.    2  vols.,  12nio,  Cloth,  $3  50. 

ALISON'S  HISTORY  OF  EUROPE.  Fiust  Series  :  From  the  Commence- 
ment of  the  French  Kevolution,  in  17S9,  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Bour- 
bons, in  1S15.  [In  addition  to  the  Notes  on  Chapter  LXXVI.,  which  cor- 
rect the  errors  of  the  original  work  concerning  the  United  States,  a  copi- 
ous Analytical  Index  has  been  appended  to  this  American  Edition.] 
Seconi>  Sbuiks:  From  the  Fall  of  Napoleon,  in  1815,  to  ihe  Accession  of 
Louis  Napoleon,  in  1S52.    8  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  |1G  00. 

EARTH'S  NORTH  AND  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  Travels  and  Discoveries  in 
North  and  Central  Africa :  being  a  Journal  of  an  Expedition  undertaken 
under  the  Auspices  of  H.B.M.'s  Government,  in  the  Years  1S49-1S,')5.  By 
Henry  Bartu,  Ph.D.,  D.C.L.     Illustrated.    3  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $12  00. 

HENRY  WARD  BEECIIER'S  SERMONS.  Sermons  by  Henry  Wart> 
Beeoukk,  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn.  Selected  from  Published  and 
Unpublished  Discourses,  and  Revised  by  their  Author.  With  Steel  Por- 
trait.   Complete  in  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

LYMAN  BEECHER'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY,  &o.  Antobiography,  Corres- 
pondence, ifcc,  of  Lyman  Beecher,  D.D.  Edited  by  his  Son,  Cuaui.ks 
Beecuer.  With  Three  Steel  Portraits,  and  Engravings  on  Wood.  In  2 
vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

BOSWELL'S  JOHNSON.  The  Life  of  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.  Including 
a  Journey  to  the  Hebrides.  By  James  Boswei.l,  Esq.  A  New  Edition, 
with  numerous  Additions  and  Notes.  By  John  Wilson  Cuokee,  LL.D., 
F.R.S.    Portrait  of  Boswell.     2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  .^4  00. 

DRAPER'S  CIVIL  WAR.  History  of  the  American  Civil  War.  By  Jriiv 
W.  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physiology  in  tl.e 
University  of  New  York.     In  Three  Vols.    Svo,  Cloth,  $3  50  per  vol. 

DRAPER'S  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF  EUROPE.  A  Histo- 
ry of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe.  By  Joun  W.  Draper, 
M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physiology  in  the  University 
of  New  York.    Svo,  Cloth.  $5  00. 

DRAPER'S  AMERICAN  CIVIL  POLICY.  Thoughts  on  the  Future  Civil 
Policy  of  America.  By  John  W.  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistrv  and  Physiology  in  the  University  of  New  York.  Crown  Svo, 
Cloth,  $2"50. 

DU  CHAILLU'S  AFRICA.  Explorations  and  Adventures  in  Equatorial  Af- 
rica, with  Accounts  of  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  People,  and  of 
the  Chase  of  the  Gorilla,  the  Crocodile,  Leopard,  Elephant,  Hippo])ota- 
mus,  and  other  Animals.  By  Paul  B.  Du  Cuaillc.  Numerous  Illus- 
trations.   Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

DU  CHAILLU'S  ASHANGO  LAND.  A  Journey  to  Ashango  Land:  and 
Further  Penetration  into  Equatorial  Africa.  By  Paul  B.  Du  Cuaillu. 
New  Edition.     Handsomely  Illustrated.     Svo,  Cloth,  $5  00. 

BELLOWS'S  OLD  WORLD.  The  Old  World  in  its  New  Face :  Impressions 
of  Europe  in  1S67-1S0S.  By  Henry  W.  Bellows.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth, 
$3  50. 

BRODHEAD'S  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK.  History  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  By  John  Romeyn  Broduead.  1C00-1G91.  2  vols.  Svo,  Cloth, 
$3  00  per  vol. 

BROUGHAM'S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  Life  and  Times  of  Henry,  Lord 
Brougham.  Written  by  Himself.  In  Three  Volumes.  12mo,  Cloth, 
$2  00  per  vol. 

■RULWER'S  PROSE  WORKS.  IMiscellaneons  Prose  Works  of  Edward  Bul- 
wer,  Lord  Lytton.    2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $3  50. 


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